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Chapter Text

The world outside of the castle was transformed as they came out of the enormous front gate into what had once been Castle Town.

Ji-Yeong’s footsteps stilled as she took in the demolished landscape. When she had passed through here with her guard Si-hyun the night the Calamity broke out, it had been freshly ravaged by Guardians; fires raged from overturned cooking pots and broken lanterns, their horses treading over bricks from collapsed houses. Everything was charred and the air was filled with acrid smoke. The wooden beams crackled and there were sudden roars of sound as parts of houses gave way. Broken glass glittered like rubies on the streets, reflecting the red sky overhead.

Now clean, normal, she was able to map out the town of her childhood over these quiet bones, her memories etching out a lithograph over this blank slate.

“You okay?” Sae-byeok came to a pause beside her. Ji-Yeong shook her head, her eyes filled with tears.

“This was the main shopping street.” She gestured, a once-grand fountain in the middle of the intersecting paths. “The townspeople always stopped and came out to wave whenever we passed through. The baker sometimes gave me a basket of sugar buns.” Ji-Yeong pressed her face to her hands. “I know, I know they all died a long time ago, but…”

Sae-byeok bent down slightly, cautiously embracing her. The Princess relaxed into her arms, sniffling. “It doesn’t feel like that to you, though. I understand.”

She wiped her eyes and drew back, drawing up into a formal posture that her Knight recognized as self-protective. “Thank you, Sae-byeok.”

Sae-byeok walked over to the fountain. “People will be wandering through here soon enough now that it’s safe.” She took out a spear from her bag and staked it into the ground, where the barren earth shone through pieces of shattered brick. “Help me find a stick?” She requested, and when they found a suitable one in the foundation of a house, she slid one of her remaining shields from the castle armory onto it and tied the stick onto the spear. It was crude, but a clearly makeshift monument.

“We can come back sometime. Make a proper memorial. But at least there’s something here for now.”

Ji-Yeong swallowed thickly and laid her palm on her elbow gratefully. “Could you give me a minute, please?” She requested.

“Of course.” Sae-byeok watched as she walked over and knelt down before it, her murmured words unintelligible at this distance, recalling all of those painful times she’d begged the Goddess for guidance in the Springs. This time, prayer seemed like it came easier to the Princess, a natural practice rather than a tool of desperation, and she returned to Sae-byeok’s side looking comforted.

The shadows were growing long within Castle Town, already dark in the undiscovered region that Sae-byeok hadn’t viewed through the Princess’s memories, when she’d made her way around into the castle via the docks.

There was a house with a roof that was somewhat intact. “Let’s stay here for the night.” She suggested. “In case we wake up to rain in the morning, it’s nice to have some extra coverage.”

“All right.” Ji-Yeong helped her with her usual camping set-up: her tent, the mat to cushion and insulate her from the ground, and her bedroll. “I’m sorry to impose on you, Sae-byeok.”

She shook her head. “Not at all, I think we’ll manage to fit okay. It’s more spacious than your mattress was and we don’t have to worry about falling off onto the floor.”

They had dinner and crawled in, extra grateful for their bath earlier when compared to the night before, where they slept beside each other coated with filth.

“This is quite cozy, actually.” Ji-Yeong remarked. They were both on their sides and the night had grown chilly, a damp fog rolling in. But they were both warmer by being in close proximity; Sae-byeok was reminded of the last time she was at home, that rainy morning in Hateno. Sae-byeok fell asleep a little easier this night, her back not causing her as much pain as the night before. She woke up before the Princess, who was mumbling into her collarbone. Trying and failing to piece out anything significant, she wondered if Ji-Yeong had ordinary dreams, or the visions of a goddess, or a mix of both. She dozed off, waking up again when her companion stirred against her.

“Morning.” She yawned, stretching her arms out, then made a noise of complaint at the outside temperature, withdrawing and huddling down further into the bedroll.

“I think it’ll burn off and warm up soon.” Sae-byeok patted her back reassuringly. “I’ll make us some tea.” She crawled out past her ungracefully, her body still recovering from the battle.

They packed up, carefully stepping out of the wreckage of the ruined house.

“All good?” Sae-byeok asked. The Princess nodded, and they headed out of Castle Town. The air was still breezy and cool, but as Sae-byeok had thought, sunbeams were breaking through the clouds and providing some warmth.

The Castle Town gate was largely still intact, though the walls only stretched out for a little on each side before crumbling all the way to the ground. The merlons had broken off in pieces, like a chipped porcelain cup, but miraculously her family banners still hung. Tattered and sun-faded, but still there after a century of enduring the elements.

They stepped out onto the road, Sae-byeok scanning the plains for any rogue moving Guardians, just in case, but everything was still. As it was in the castle, it seemed like they too had been vanquished along with the Calamity.

Ji-Yeong was looking the other way, admiring the verdant view of the forest. She startled as a dark shape came out of the treeline, rushing towards them quickly, hooves thumping on the dirt road, before she realized that it was just a horse.

“Hey!” Sae-byeok called. “Jeju!” She laughed and reached up as the black horse pushed her long face into her shoulder.

“Were you watching for me?” She brushed her hand over her nose, ruffling her soft coat there. “Nothing scary in the woods?”

She snuffled and Sae-byeok smiled with delight. “Good girl.”

She turned and nosed at Ji-Yeong curiously. The Princess lifted a delicate palm to touch her velvety nose softly.

“Hi, Jeju.” She smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Here.” Sae-byeok pulled something from her pack. “Give this to her and she’ll love you.” Ji-Yeong laughed with surprised delight as she took the carrot, Jeju already pushing eagerly at her hands as she caught the scent of it.

“This is Princess Ji-Yeong.” Sae-byeok told Jeju, quickly going through the motions of grooming and saddling her as best she could with her injuries. She checked her hooves and made a mental note to get her new horseshoes at the next stable. “She’s coming back to Hateno with us. We’ll go slow, okay? Since you have extra weight to carry now. I’ll walk when there’s any steep uphill or downhill.”

Jeju gave a soft whuff of approval. Sae-byeok motioned to Ji-Yeong and lifted her up onto the horse’s back with a frightening ease, her supernatural strength still apparent despite the remaining stiffness of her sore muscles, before climbing up herself. As they made their way across the quiet field, still littered with the new carcasses of Guardians that Sae-byeok had shredded apart in addition to the shells of rusted old ones, she heard Ji-Yeong make a slight noise of pain behind her.

“You okay?” She asked, gingerly twisting around to look at her with concern.

“Yes, it’s just, so bright out here.” She was wincing, her hand acting as a visor. Compared to the castle grounds, with its towers and guardhouses and the brick walls that lined the edges of the moat, there was no shade to be found out here in the wide, flat fields.

Sae-byeok pulled out the hood she had bought ages ago in Kakariko, unfurling it and settling it over Ji-Yeong’s head. She laughed at how it engulfed her smaller frame. “You’re too used to being the brightest thing around.”

The Princess giggled, her eyes relaxing more in the cover it provided, and prodded her. “It’s not fair to tease me. I’m still getting used to having a body again.”

“You’re right.” Sae-byeok agreed, happy to know she wouldn’t be vanishing anytime soon, her weight solid and real behind her.

Night was falling as they neared Riverside Stable. Sae-byeok dismounted and noticed Ji-Yeong looking with…apprehension at the small crowd of people. She hadn’t spoken to anyone but her for all this time, she realized.

The Knight helped her down off of Jeju’s back.

“Let’s go sit and have dinner inside?” She suggested. “But we can set up my tent nearby instead of taking beds. I’ll see what I can do to get another bedroll, if a trader has one, but we might be out of luck until we get back to Hateno. Sorry.”

Ji-Yeong shook her head, relieved not to sleep amongst a crowd of strangers. “The tent is perfectly fine.”

“All right. Let me find a stablehand to take care of Jeju. I’ll have a farrier replace her horseshoes in the morning before we set off.”

They said hello to the few other guests and Ji-Yeong soon relaxed, a natural conversationalist, certainly better than Sae-byeok, asking about where they came from in Hyrule and why they were traveling. Sae-byeok cooked and chimed in once in a while but was glad to listen; she had improved at small talk out of sheer necessity, traveling all over Hyrule, but besides the trusted contacts she’d made, people at the stables and on the road came and went.

“Well, good night!” They said to the couple they’d been chatting with, who had strings of fruit drying on their packs to take back to their village.

They walked a short distance, the lantern-lit stable still within sight, and set up camp above the riverbank, high enough that the water wouldn’t reach them even if it flooded with an influx of rain.

“Here should be good.” Sae-byeok scrutinized the bank of the river. “On second thought, maybe we should go up a little more.”

“There’s hardly a cloud.” Ji-Yeong noted, gazing above at the clear constellations, the waxing moon. “I don’t think we need worry.”

Sae-byeok glanced up at the sky, then back at the Princess’s serene face. She’d gotten good at reading weather patterns, but in parts of Hyrule, they could still shift within hours. Ji-Yeong sounded more certain; Sae-byeok wouldn’t be surprised if she still had tendrils of sensitivity connecting her to the land.

“All right.” She agreed, pulling out the tent to set it up.

The next morning wasn’t as cold as the previous, and the sleep felt restorative. Moving around was growing easier and the muscles in her legs only held a slight ache as they walked back to the stable.

Sae-byeok pulled out some rupees to pay the farrier, who was just nailing on the last new shoe. “Look at you, all pretty again.” She said to Jeju, scruffing her mane.

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out an apple to give to her as a treat before she laid the blanket and saddle on her.

Ji-Yeong smiled at her. “You take excellent care of her.”

Sae-byeok’s face softened. “I’d never dreamt that I’d ever get to have a horse. Nearly all of the traveling traders from my village went by foot, and we didn’t even use horses to farm. I do feel terrible every time we get into a risky situation, like when we went into the Badlands and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get her water. Sometimes bokoblins have chased us too, those ones in the grasslands that are clever enough to ride on horseback. I suppose she’s taken up part of my duties, to encounter dangers like those.”

“She is certainly matched to you in bravery and strength, to come this far.” Ji-Yeong said. Jeju’s tail flicked in agreement and they laughed.

“It’s only fair that she gets some quality rest when she can, too.” She finished preparing her for the day’s journey. “Let’s get going, we’re still early enough that we may be able to make it to the next stable by tonight.” At this, the Princess nodded and Sae-byeok lifted her up before swinging in to the saddle herself.

It was an easy morning, riding the roads inland, no sight of any monsters. They circled the Great Plateau and Sae-byeok smiled slightly, looking up and up, remembering her time there, its peaceful isolation.

Turning around slightly, Sae-byeok asked her about lunch.

“Getting hungry? Want to stop here?”

Ji-Yeong shook her head. “Can we go a little further, please?”

“Sure.”

She tapped her shoulder once they neared the Proxim Bridge. “Here is good.”

They dismounted at the embankment to the side and Jeju went over to drink from the river. “Sorry, it was a little too eerie for me back there.” Her eyes were distant.

Ah. “I understand. I thought the same thing when I first walked through there.” They’d just ridden through the remains of the East Outpost, which seemed to be a bustling stop, back in her time. Now it was so empty that any and all sound reverberated back, footsteps, hoof beats, whispers.

The Princess looked visibly relaxed as she sat down upon the blanket she’d unfolded, turning her face up to the sun. “It’s pleasant here.” She took a deep breath, cleansed by the forest air and clear rushing water of the river.

Sae-byeok tilted her chin at the nearby shrine and told her of how she learned to climb there, the gear and ledges and brutal workout that waited for her inside.

“I basically crawled back out.” Sae-byeok said and Ji-Yeong set down her sandwich, laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. “Getting onto Jeju the next day took all of my willpower. Even now I’m not sure how I made myself do it.”

“You are truly magnificent.” Ji-Yeong stated. “Those trials to train you as the Knight, no one else could have completed them.”

“I just had to.” Sae-byeok looked away, scuffing the heel of her boot into the sandy bank that laid past the edge of the blanket. “It’s strange to know that when Deya is just over that ridge. Still, after everything, I don’t feel up to facing it.”

“You don’t have to. It’s not the Calamity, you can take your time with it. Whenever you feel up to it.” Ji-Yeong assured her kindly. “It only took me a hundred years.” She followed up wryly.

The joke broke the morose spell that had fallen over Sae-byeok and she smiled at her, nudging her shoe with her boot. “You didn’t exactly have a choice, there.”

“You’ll get there someday. I know it.” Ji-Yeong said, and Sae-byeok nodded, casting her eyes at the ridgeline in the distance one last time.

They got up and stretched, getting on the road again.

The trail alongside the river that cut through the Dueling Peaks was level and straight, no hills to climb or switchbacks to navigate. The sound of the rushing water was soothing and they rode along in comfortable silence. Sae-byeok gazed up; from this angle, it looked as though the two sheer cliff faces had no end, and continued on upward into the sky forever. The Peaks had always served as her landmark for being close to home, for this part of Hyrule, and now she was getting to pass through them again.

As they made their way through the heart of the two mountains, tears started trickling down Sae-byeok’s face before she even realized she was crying.

A few drops landed on the Princess’s hand, and she pulled back her hood to find clear skies above them.

“Sae-byeok? Are you okay?” She asked her, surprised. Ji-Yeong started to rub her back, trying to soothe her.

Sae-byeok sniffled. “Yeah. It’s just that, the last time I came through here, I wasn’t sure if I’d be coming back. I didn’t know if I’d get to go home again.” If it had been the start of her journey, when she’d first set out from Hateno with her backpack full of smoked fish and foraged mushrooms and newly wounded heart, she might have roughly brushed at her eyes, not wanting someone else to see her pain, but it was just the two of them here. She’d witnessed Ji-Yeong’s own difficult memories. She let the tears keep coming.

Ji-Yeong wrapped her arms around her, resting her head against her shoulder. She didn’t say anything; she knew what she was feeling. She’d walked down that mountain too.

At the Dueling Peaks Stable, they stayed up a little later, enjoying the fire with a larger and livelier group, a band of minstrels playing music. Ji-Yeong’s face lit up when they sang a ballad she recognized and she successfully goaded Sae-byeok into singing along with her.

“Not one of my finer skills.” She grumbled later as they set up the tent, still able to hear the one lone warbler with a fiddle. Soon enough the stablemaster was going to have to shut it down. “Give me a swordfight any day.”

“You could have defeated the Calamity with your sonorous voice alone, Sae-byeok.” Ji-Yeong teased.

She tossed the bedroll at her.

“Oof.” The Princess complained as she caught it, but crawled inside to lay it out.

“I do like your singing.” She said as they were going to sleep. “You still make a much better knight than bard, but it wasn’t a jest.”

“Thanks.” Sae-byeok’s cheeks burned; she was grateful to be away from the lantern light of the stable. “But I’ll stick to what I know.”

Ji-Yeong hummed the tune for a moment longer and Sae-byeok realized that it was a big comfort to her to encounter something so unchanged. All the places Ji-Yeong had known were damaged, destroyed, or worn away. Music persisted as it was.

The grass was still laden with dewdrops as they set out in the morning, rays of light coming down over the mountains from the west. The shadows of the summits were enormous, stretched across the valley.

“I’ll have to catch a horse for you too, when you can stay awake long enough to ride on your own.” Sae-byeok mused as they crossed Blatchery Plain, where she’d caught Jeju more than a year earlier. Off in the distance, she could see the groups of wild horses.

Ji-Yeong pressed her face into the center of Sae-byeok’s back. She could feel her yawning. Clearly, the Princess was not fully functional yet.

She’d been having trouble staying awake during the long hours of travel, drowsing off, apologizing as she sagged against her. More than once, the Princess had come dangerously close to falling off. After the second time, Sae-byeok had insisted on tying a length of rope around their waists to secure her.

“I’m sorry, Sae-byeok, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.” Ji-Yeong had told her as they took a break to stretch and eat. She poured some water out from the canteen into her palm and patted it onto her face. “I thought I would be back to normal by now.”

“It’s okay.” Sae-byeok watched her rub her eyes, still blinking blearily. “You’ve been through a lot. We know how long injuries take to heal, but not what you’ve experienced.”

That made her smile. “Thanks. I haven’t thought about it like that.”

“Do you want to have a rest? We could find a shady spot.” It would slow them down significantly to have to take midday breaks but…they had time.

Ji-Yeong was already shaking her head. “I want to get to Hateno. I think with small breaks like these, I’ll be fine until we sleep for the night.”

“All right.” Sae-byeok agreed. “But if your needs change, tell me. Hateno is going to be there whenever we get there.”

She nodded and at least didn’t fuss at being made to draw the loop of rope around her waist. For being a figurehead in need of protection, the Princess did not care much for it.

Now she studied the wild horses before once again leaning heavily into Sae-byeok. “I had a snow-white mare when I was a girl, with a golden mane and tail. She was so beautiful when we had official trips, adorned with all of our purple regalia…” Ji-Yeong murmured sleepily. “You could trace her lineage back for generations.”

“Of course you had a white horse with golden hair.” Sae-byeok said blithely.

A beat passed and Ji-Yeong burst into such a fit of giggles that she had to clutch at her waist in order to keep her balance, the degree of her laughter setting Sae-byeok off too. If anyone had come across them, they would have made quite a sight, teetering wildly on their shared horse, tears streaming down their faces, absolutely wheezing and howling with hysterics.

“If a horse with such princessy coloring still exists in Hyrule, I will find it for you.” Sae-byeok vowed solemnly, after sucking in a deep breath.

“Stop, stop.” Ji-Yeong gasped through more giggles, small fingers grasping her tunic. “I can’t breathe.”

Sae-byeok was shuddering with suppressed laughter again. “This is why you still needed a Knight. Who else has had the training?”

“You’re such a shit sometimes, Sae-byeok!” Ji-Yeong said, shaking her head.

“Princess!” Sae-byeok said, scandalized.

“You cannot possibly deny it.” Ji-Yeong listened for a moment. “I can hear you snickering.”

“You’ve just surprised me, that’s all.” Sae-byeok said, grinning. “Where did you learn such crass language? Have you been hanging out with the fishermen of Lurelin without me?”

“You know I’ve hardly spent any time there.” Ji-Yeong pursed her lips. “State visits were rare, little more than meet and greets and a banquet dinner. Delegates had to come to the castle to ask for anything. I do wish to see it again.”

“We’ll go.” Sae-byeok assured her. The road in front of them led all the way there, after all.

Ji-Yeong’s voice was bright. “Now I have a chance to truly see Hyrule, as you’ve seen it. Not as I saw it, in the political role of the Princess, or as Hylia, but on foot, over the land.”

They reached the deserted old fortress wall at the edge of the plain. Sae-byeok slowed Jeju’s pace and brought her to a stop.

“It’s all an uphill climb from this point on, so I’ll walk beside you now.” She told them. Ji-Yeong stuck her nose up, haughty, knowing that she meant to keep an eye on her in case she drowsed. Sae-byeok could have sighed.

“Could I see your bag, please?” Ji-Yeong asked, not too much later.

“Sure.” Sae-byeok unclasped it, handing it up to her.

“Thanks.” Ji-Yeong returned it quickly. Sae-byeok always wore the bag, in order to quickly access her stash of weapons and shields if needed.

“What are you so focused on?” Sae-byeok asked curiously, noticing that she wasn’t gazing around anymore.

“Look!” She held up the beginning of something circular, the stems of flowers woven together. “Victors should have their homecoming wearing a crown.” She said firmly.

There was at least twelve crowns of varying grandeur, encrusted with jewels, plus Sae-byeok’s own star fragment circlet in her bag. The whimsy of crafting flower ones made her hide a smile. She touched the delicate yellow petals of the safflina, a neat background to the the flashier armornath, which gathered into rounded sets of blossoms.

“I chose armornath for you, as the defender of our kingdom, and electric safflina, for its complementary coloring to the purple.” Ji-Yeong explained as she braided the stems.

“I like it.” Sae-byeok smiled. “Which ones are you doing for yours?”

“Mine?”

“Yes, yours. You’re a Victor too, so you need a crown. If you show me how, I can make it. It won’t look as nice though.” She warned. “My mother is the craft maker in our family.”

Ji-Yeong shook her head. “I can make it, thank you, I just didn’t think about it. Hm, which flowers? Want to choose mine?”

“Sure. Let me think about it for a bit.” Sae-byeok requested. The day passed comfortably, Ji-Yeong on Jeju’s back, her hands working, Sae-byeok keeping watch with a spear at the ready for any bokoblins that she’d heard liked to lie in wait on this particular stretch of the road, not wanting her horse to get startled.

“Blue nightshade.” She said at last. “Since they helped to guide me in the labyrinth in the highlands, as you guided me on my journey, and swift violets, to match the purple in my armornath.”

Ji-Yeong grinned widely at her from where she sat up high. “Perfect.” Once she was done with Sae-byeok’s, she swapped it out for the new set of flowers, continuing by the fire where they set up camp for the night near the Cliffs of Quince.

“I think we should get there by late morning.” Sae-byeok said, unable to conceal her excitement.

“What are you looking forward to the most? Besides seeing them, of course.” Ji-Yeong asked.

Sae-byeok considered this. “Just spending time together. It was limited, last time. We were all frightened. Now there’s a chance to really rest.”

“We could both use that.” Ji-Yeong looked solemn in the flickering light, tying off the last stems. Sae-byeok nudged her leg with her foot. “What are you all frowny about?”

“Oh.” She glanced over at her and sighed. “It’s silly.”

“Go on.”

“I suppose I’m just worried about them liking me. I did force your hand, there.”

Sae-byeok got up to sit beside her and she leaned over to tap the hilt of her Sword where it rested on her hip. “On my honor as a Knight, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah?” It seemed to reassure her.

“Yeah. Definitely. My mother will be nervous about living up to your high standards, but Cheol will be hanging on your every word.”

That brought a smile to her face, the tension unraveling.

Sae-byeok gently lifted the finished crown and placed it on her head. “Plus, I like you. Or else I’d have left you back at the castle.”

“Sae-byeok!” The Princess was torn between whining and laughing, bumping her with her shoulder, which was a big improvement as they got ready to call it a night.

This time, there was no frantic rush as they approached Hateno from the main gate. Ji-Yeong had wanted to walk, wearing a simple pink dress and her lighter traveling cloak, but she had grown tired and pallid on the strenuous uphill path, so Sae-byeok had lifted her back up onto Jeju to sit side-saddle.

“Don’t forget my handiwork.” Ji-Yeong leaned down to plunk the flower crown atop her head. Sae-byeok put a hand on it, looking up at her and grinning.

She waved enthusiastically at the farmer-turned-guard on duty and he set down his long-handled rake. Gerudo Town and its highly trained militia, they were not.

“Ah, Sae-byeok, welcome home! It’s been a while!” He eyed her horse, companion, and their flower crowns with curiosity.

“Thadd, how have you been? This is Pr- Ji-Yeong.”

“Fine, fine. Nice to meet you.” He nodded up at her.

“Do you happen to know where my mother and brother are?”

“I think it’s almost lunch time for Gi-hun’s crew, so probably at your house or somewhere in the model village preparing lunch for them.”

“Thanks!” She said, leading Jeju’s reins up the Main Street and off the path that branched off that way, the one that ended at home.

She could be blindfolded and still know every step of this walk, the unevenness from where a tree root snaked underfoot, the rise of the terrain as the now-nearly finished model homes appeared. They crossed the short bridge that separated the Kang’s precious patch of land from the rest of the village, and Sae-byeok beamed at the sight of her house coming into view.

At their outdoor cooking pot that they favored on sunny days, her mother was so concentrated on laying out the skewers of marinated meats and vegetables that even Jeju’s large form didn’t distract her.

“Mama!” Sae-byeok called, helping Ji-Yeong slide down off the saddle.

In-suk’s head flew up in shock. “Oh!” She cried, already starting to run over, her skirt flowing behind her. “Sae-byeok!”

She all but collapsed into her daughter’s arms, but Sae-byeok was healed enough that it wasn’t a struggle to stay upright.

“We won, Mama.” She hugged her tightly. In-suk clutched at her, clearly not wanting to let her go again.

“I knew you would. I knew it.” She held her head against hers. “Gi-hun was about to borrow a horse to ride out, Teli’s just returned from the stable with a rumor of the darkness over the castle disappearing. So we thought that the battle must be over at last, but didn’t know if you needed help.”

“Teli must have been right ahead of us.”

Her mother drew back, brushing away tears, at last noticing the shorter woman standing beside them. She covered her mouth.

“My apologies, Princess, do I, should I curtsy?”

They stared at her with wide eyes.

"O-oh, Mrs. Kang, please don’t concern yourself with etiquette." Ji-Yeong said nervously, her hands going through a few motions before she extended them both to In-suk. “I know it was a hardship, in countless ways, for me to take Sae-byeok away from your family. I wanted to thank you.”

In-suk took her hands, looking as though she still wanted to do some kind of gesture to acknowledge her Royal status.

They all turned away at the sound of a commotion—Gi-hun running towards them at a fast pace, the soles of his shoes thudding on the soft dirt.

He leaned over, out of breath. “They said, they saw a black horse-“ He opened his arms to her. “Sae-byeok!”

“Hi, Gi-hun.” Sae-byeok moved to embrace him, touched that he was crying, too. He patted her back before he gave her another tight squeeze and released her.

“I’ll go get Gae-yeong and Cheol, bring them here, they’re playing in Medda’s field chasing frogs.” He said, turning around and seeing Ji-Yeong, his eyes widening at her gleaming jewelry.

“Princess!” He exclaimed. He sank into an awkwardly deep bow, wobbling slightly as he also knelt down into an odd lunge.

Sae-byeok put a hand over her face. Ji-Yeong just laughed and shook Gi-hun’s hands.

“You may call me Ji-Yeong.” She said graciously. Her serene expression nearly broke with Gi-hun’s earnestly awed reaction. Especially with Sae-byeok over his shoulder visibly restraining her laughter.

The skewers they had for lunch that day were overly charred on one side, forgotten on the grill as they were, but no one cared very much about that.

—

Cheol, slightly muddy, clinging to Sae-byeok’s side as they sat in the shade outside and ate, asked Ji-Yeong if she really lived in a castle.

“I did.” She said conspiratorially. “It had towers and secret passageways and hidden rooms. No one else could enter it the whole time I was there, until your sister came.”

His eyes grew wide.

“He’s going to make us play castle now, I hope you realize.” Sae-byeok laughed, patting his back.

Ji-Yeong smiled. “That’s fine. But I’m looking forward to seeing Hateno.”

Cheol jolted with excitement. “Can we go now, big sis? There’s the shops on the main street, and the little lake with the tree in the middle, and the library on the cliff side, we can walk down to the beach! Ji-Yeong, can you swim?”

In-suk swooped in for their rescue. “Let’s let them get some rest, sweetheart. They’ve been traveling for days.”

Cheol pouted, but relented. He perked up. “Is Ji-Yeong staying with us?”

Her mother frowned. “Let’s go look at the house.” They went inside and surveyed the space. They had always spread their futon out on the lower floor.

“Would the Princess-Ji-Yeong be more comfortable staying at the inn in town?” She asked. “We can clear out the loft but it would be a tight space for two people, and the area down here for four.” In-suk looked torn, and Sae-byeok knew she was feeling like a terrible host at the thought of turning away a guest, or making her stay in unfavorable conditions. Ji-Yeong’s face was carefully neutral.

“We can share the loft.” Sae-byeok said, after climbing up the stairs to study it. “It’s just about as wide as the tent’s been, anyways.” They made a line to move the boxes down into their small alcove and dusted it before Sae-byeok hefted her futon over her shoulder and carried it up. Ji-Yeong followed with the blankets and pillows, stifling a yawn.

“Need a nap?” Sae-byeok asked, amused, taking them from her to spread out.

Ji-Yeong nodded, her eyelids heavy. “Please tell your family that I don’t just sleep all the time.” She felt self-conscious, knowing that the end of the working day wasn’t for a few hours.

Sae-byeok sat and patted the futon. “Come here, you’re owed some rest. You’ve had a busted century-old mattess and camping for the past week.” She lifted the flower crown off her head and carefully set it aside, intending to dry them both and hang them on the wall like wreaths. Once Ji-Yeong had curled up, she placed another blanket over her, tucking it around her shoulders. “I’ll be here downstairs or in the yard whenever you wake up.”

“I didn’t want to stay in town.” Ji-Yeong admitted as Sae-byeok began to head down the narrow stairs. “I didn’t want to be on my own.”

Sae-byeok’s head popped back up. “I’d have gone with you.”

“You would have?” Ji-Yeong asked, her eyebrows rising up in surprise. There was no known threat to her here, nothing to stop Sae-byeok from seeing her off at the inn at the end of the day so she could return to be with her family before coming to get her in the morning.

“‘Course.” She said easily, returning the small smile Ji-Yeong gave her before she went back downstairs. With her mother, she reorganized the goods that had been up in the loft space, talking quietly amongst themselves. It was mostly plants and food that had been hung up to be dried and preserved, and extra fabric and clothing.

“Everything okay?”

Sae-byeok explained the Princess’s fatigue. “She’s still recovering, from being how she was. But she’s better, day by day.”

In-suk looked deep in thought as she stacked some boxes together. “So she really was inside the castle, that whole time?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Sae-byeok remembered the complicated way that Ji-Yeong had told her of Hylia’s powers. “She was there, holding back the Calamity, but also able to communicate with me. Ji-Yeong would be better at telling it herself. She didn’t have a…physical form? I guess would be the best way to put it. Not for all that time.”

“That’s…extraordinary.” In-suk looked at her and smiled. “What you did was extraordinary too.”

Sae-byeok ducked her head. “It had to be done. For you and Cheol, Ji-Yeong, everyone here.”

“No injuries besides that cut on your neck?”

Her sharp eyes had caught that after all. “I’m all healed. The Princess is knowledgeable about herbal remedies.”

“Is that so?” In-suk sounded impressed. “I’ll be glad to have someone around who is.”

Her daughter scoffed, recognizing the lighthearted barb.

In-suk laughed. "Oh, I missed you greatly, darling."

“I missed you too.”

Ji-Yeong rose in the midafternoon and ended up staying up late, sitting at the kitchen table with her mother as she showed her an embroidery technique that they’d used in Deya. They were sitting and chatting quietly, Cheol asleep on the darkened other side of the room, when Sae-byeok bid them good night.

Sae-byeok laid down in the loft, sighing at the softness of the mattress and how she really got to stretch out, compared to the tent. There was nothing quite like her own bed, even with adjusting to being in a different part of the house.

She drifted off but woke to soft, hesitant footsteps on the stairs.

“Come here.” She said, lifting up the corner of the blanket for Ji-Yeong, who climbed in beside her, nestling in against her shoulder.

“Mmph.”

She rested her palm over Sae-byeok’s left hip, where she had been wounded by the lizalfos in the desert. Ji-Yeong had started to do this more lately, just as part of the routine of how she curled up to sleep, but it was almost like she was reassuring herself that Sae-byeok was unharmed. She wondered if that incident stood out particularly sharply to Ji-Yeong while she was doing her balancing act of trying to take care of her while also continuing to restrain the Calamity.

“‘Night.” She sighed, her breath evening out after a few minutes, her dark hair trailing down over her shoulder, the ends pressed between them.

Sae-byeok, on the contrary, was struggling to steady her own breathing, focusing on slowing her heart rate, similar to how she calmed herself after a skirmish. She was surprised Ji-Yeong hadn’t noticed yet.

—

“The whole caravan had stopped because we were lacking sufficient fireproof lizards to make elixirs to reach Goron City, because Death Mountain was acting up and the temperatures were broiling, and for once I was allowed to go out and try to catch them with the other children, but I tripped on the hem of my dress and fell flat on my face-“ Ji-Yeong broke down into giggles, setting off the rest of the table. Sae-byeok laughed, picturing it perfectly.

She gently pressed her thumb to a slight shiny mark on Ji-Yeong’s chin, one that she’d only noticed due to seeing her face at every angle and at all times of day. “Is that what this is from?”

Ji-Yeong nodded, her head still in Sae-byeok’s hand, causing it to bob up and down with the motion. “Oh, my nursemaid was livid. And my dress was streaked with dust. Needless to say, that was the end of the hunt for me.” She dipped her bread in the stew, telling them more about Goron City, one of the few spots in Hyrule where Sae-byeok hadn’t been. She’d skirted the area around Death Mountain several times but had never had to venture up to the city at its base. Ji-Yeong wished to visit in the future, saying that some Gorons who were children during her last visits might still be alive, now acting as the village elders. Remembering her own meal, having been fully absorbed in Ji-Yeong’s stories, she turned back to it and glanced up to see her mother with an odd expression on her face.

What? She mouthed at her. Cheol was peppering Ji-Yeong with questions, which she was answering dutifully, even the outlandish ones.

In-suk raised an eyebrow at her, her eyes flickering to the Princess and back.

Sae-byeok flushed. Her brother and Ji-Yeong were still engrossed in their conversation. She raised her bread up to have a bite, but tapped a finger to her lips first, narrowing her eyes in warning. Her mother smiled and shook her head, and that was the end of it—for now.

Sae-byeok went to pile up Ji-Yeong’s plate and silverware and clear it away, her mother observing, which caused her to glower slightly.

The Princess looked up at her with concern, due to her rougher handling of the dishes. “You okay?”

Immediately, her face relaxed and she picked up her glass more gently. “Yes, I’m fine.”

She took the lot over to the sink and glared at her mother as she smirked.

—

In-suk got her chance the next day, as Cheol dragged Ji-Yeong into the yard to teach her the ball game he and his friends had invented, Sae-byeok roped into helping her mother plant the next batch of seeds for their vegetable garden.

“When did this happen?” Her mother asked slyly, smiling as Ji-Yeong did her best to kick the ball into a small basket, once again in a set of too-big borrowed trousers. They really had to stop in to see Sang-woo’s mother to get her some sets made. She wasn’t very coordinated and the ball went veering off towards the hill at the back of their lot.

"I’ll get it! Then you try again, okay?" Cheol ordered.

Sae-byeok tried to play dumb. “When did what happen?”

“Daughter.” In-suk scolded her. “I’ve seen how you look at friends. That was different.”

Sae-byeok sat back, wiping her forehead and leaving a streak of dirt behind. She sent her brother and the Princess he was bossing around a soft look and shrugged helplessly. “I swore my life to her. Back then it was service, and duty. Necessity. Now I’d give it too. And I know that’s not something you want to hear, but…she’s special.”

Her mother smiled slightly before she suddenly looked serious. “And if she doesn’t return your affections, Sae-byeok?”

She stiffened, looking back down at the dirt. “Then I will continue to protect her until she finds her King Consort and weds, and beyond that if she requires it. I’m still her Knight. I’m the one best equipped to protect her. She tried to dismiss me, immediately after the Calamity was vanquished, but I refused it.”

“You did?”

Sae-byeok jerked her chin at where they were still playing, as subtly as she could. “How could I leave her? I didn’t want to leave her.”

“Will you ever tell her?” In-suk asked, reaching up out of habit to fiddle with her opal necklace before she put her hand down, realizing it was sheathed in a gardening glove. It must have been a nervous habit she’d developed in the time she’d been gone.

Sae-byeok shook her head. “She’s the one with a fate of a kingdom resting on her shoulders. And it’s different now than it was before the Calamity broke out, but she is still bound by weights of duty and, and royal lineage that I can’t possibly understand.”

"I don’t want you to be heartsick." In-suk’s eyes grew teary. "I’ve known ever since you were little that you wanted for more than a quiet village life, but I don’t want you locked in a situation where you’ll be unhappy. You’ve given so much of yourself already."

Sae-byeok’s mouth drew up to the side in something that was nearly a smile. "It’s my choice. But at the very least, I’ll always be content to just be by her side.”

“I hope so, my darling.” In-suk’s face was still tight with concern.

“Will you be sad if I were never married?” Sae-byeok asked her, her head tilted. For some of the neighbors in their old village, there would have been nothing worse than a spinster daughter. But she felt assured that her mother wasn’t that way.

“Not if she is the one for you. But I do wish for both of your happiness.”

Finally, Ji-Yeong managed to kick the ball into the basket and everyone cheered, the women on the sidelines clapping. She grinned, triumphant.

“Did you see, Sae-byeok?” She called, re-tying her clothing as it had loosened slightly.

“Yes, Princess, you’ve improved greatly over the morning!”

She beamed.

“Try again, Ji-Yeong!” Cheol demanded, stealing her attention away.

“Okay.” She focused, determined.

“She does seem to gravitate towards you.” In-suk mentioned in a low voice.

“I’m the only person she really knows right now.” Sae-byeok downplayed. “She still needs time to meet new people, build relationships with others.” Hope for more than what they had now was a monster Sae-byeok found herself slaying all the time, a constant tiring task.

Jubilant after scoring another goal, Ji-Yeong ran over to her, and Sae-byeok had to stamp down that hope like stubborn campfire embers once again.

“Come play.” Ji-Yeong requested, flushed from the exertion.

“Princess, that would be unfair and unkind of me.” Sae-byeok demurred as she set down her trowel.

“Not if you joined forces with me against Cheol.” She winked. “He’s so skilled.”

“Say no more.” Sae-byeok stood up, starting to head over to where the ball was lying abandoned in their side yard.

“No, big sis!” Cheol shrieked as he realized she was his new opponent.

“Better guard that goal!” She called out as she broke into a sprint. She waited for him to get close to it before she fired the ball cleanly under his arm and into the basket.

They spent the rest of the day playing in the yard, giving Sae-byeok increasingly ridiculous challenges as both goalkeeper and player. Eventually Cheol made her hold the basket up high while they tried to sink the ball in as they chased her, giggling, until In-suk came out of the house and scolded him (but not Ji-Yeong).

—

“Should we make a visit to our other family? We can go for a week.” In-suk asked, and Sae-byeok nodded eagerly.

“I’ll help you with packing up.”

They left in the early morning, but it was already warm and sunny; the route out of town was strenuous, up and up a long and winding path that eventually started peaked and started sloping down towards Hateno beach.

“Holding up okay?” Sae-byeok asked the Princess, brushing her hair over her shoulder, concerned that she was getting overheated. “We’ll stop for lunch soon.”

“I’m fine!” She said, cheerful in her gauzy light blue dress. They had visited Mrs. Cho’s shop for some trouser sets for her, but they hadn’t been ready in time for this trip. “It’s perfect weather for a journey.”

She’d covered up when she’d been doing poorly a couple of times before, wilting underneath a tight smile, as she must have practiced often during her political visits, but she didn’t seem to be doing that now.

“Seems like you’re doing better, huh?” Sae-byeok was relieved. She wasn’t sure if Ji-Yeong was always going to be affected by what she had done to fight the Calamity, forever fatigued, energy nosediving without warning in the middle of an ordinary day. If she was, they would work around it, but she knew that Ji-Yeong herself had been embarrassed about needing to withdraw for her rests.

“More good days than bad, as of late.” Ji-Yeong nodded. “Hopefully that continues; I wish to join you on all your activities.”

They had their midday meal at the wide stretch of coastline where they had first met Ali. Ji-Yeong listened to them retell the story, enraptured.

“Big sis!” Cheol shouted with alarm not long after they set off along the path. They’d dallied too long at lunch and the tide had risen to cover the land.

“It’s fine, Cheol, it’s just this small crossing. It won’t rise far enough before we’re past.” Sae-byeok promised. “Here, you and Mama get on Jeju, she can ford it.” She helped them onto her back before she bent down before Ji-Yeong. “My lady?”

“Really?” She shook her head, laughing slightly, before she wrapped her arms around her shoulders, tightening them with a shout of mixed delight and fright as Sae-byeok lifted her up.

“Can’t have your pretty dress get ruined by the saltwater.” She went ahead, clicking her tongue for Jeju to follow her. The water was at the middle of her calf and reached just above her knee by the time they made it through to the Lurelin side of the cliffs, Ji-Yeong’s toes trailing through the surf. Sae-byeok had handed her her shoes once it looked like they wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed.

By the time they made it to the village gates, the sunlight was slanting low, the docks crowded with boats that had come in for the evening, though a few remained far out to test their luck for late-night fishing, lanterns bobbing in the distance.

They made their way to Ali and Reema’s house, one amongst a cluster, and saw them through the open doorway, their woven screen not yet pulled down for the night. They saw their faces light up as they realized they’d come to visit.

“All of you!” Reema cried, going from one to the other to embrace them, Ali just behind her. “It’s been too long. Come in, come in, are you hungry? Oh, who is this?”

She’d caught sight of the newcomer behind In-suk and Sae-byeok’s taller figures on the few short stairs leading up to their house.

“Well-”In-suk began.

“This is Princess Ji-Yeong!” Cheol exclaimed, making the other women wince.

“Please, just call me Ji-Yeong.” She interjected hurriedly.

Ali and Reema glanced at each other uncertainly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ji-Yeong. Where did you two meet? On Sae-byeok’s travels?”

Sae-byeok looked at her mother and brother with shock. “You didn’t tell them about it, the last time you came here to visit?”

They glanced at each other sheepishly.

“Well, no. We just talked about your time at home and said you’d set off again.”

“Sorry, what is going on?” Reema interrupted. “Ali and I didn’t ask Sae-byeok for details when she came to visit last time because we thought maybe it had been a bad experience for her. And for all of you. We didn’t want to bring it up.”

“We thought maybe she had gotten caught up in some shady business dealings. There’s been stories from traders in the village, of scammers who trap people into working for them.”

Incredulous, Sae-byeok opened her mouth to explain, but Ji-Yeong spoke up first.

“The person Sae-byeok ran into on the road was me, and I needed her help. That’s why she wasn’t able to return home for so long.” Ji-Yeong smiled at her and Sae-byeok remembered her first sight of her from within those foggy woods, the divine golden blaze of her.

“The legend of the Calamity isn’t told as often here, is it?” Ji-Yeong continued. Ali and Reema shook their heads, eyebrows furrowed. “Lurelin has their own myths to hand down.”

“We know some details…” Reema trailed off. “Our traders usually don’t travel as far as Central Hyrule. Just Faron and the Lakeside Stable. The Highland Stable if times are really hard.”

“So this was about the Calamity?” Ali asked.

Sae-byeok sidled up besides Ji-Yeong. “We defeated it. Ji-Yeong is the last Princess of Hyrule.”

Ali looked gobsmacked; Reema covered her mouth so that she didn’t. “So that all that time you were away…”

“I had some training to do, first. It’s quite demanding physical work, to be a knight.” Sae-byeok said mildly.

“That scar of yours…” Reema was piecing together, her hand floating to her stomach.

Sae-byeok and Ji-Yeong flinched.

“Lizalfos in the Gerudo desert.” She explained. “One caught me by surprise. The recovery set me back a while.”

Reema looked horrified, Ali rubbed her shoulders.

“You’ll have to tell us some other, nicer stories so Reema isn’t tossing and turning all night.” He sized her up. “Since you’re used to some physical work now, you can help us rebuild after the next major storm hits.”

She huffed, recognizing his teasing. “Certainly. Cutting and hauling palm tree pillars is no sweat.”

They told them more details over dinner, everyone listening raptly. But as soon as they were finished eating, they were just as eager for bed. Ali and Reema were up early due to fishing, and Rayan, and everyone else was tired from the trip.

“Our neighbors are out right now, off to trade. They won’t be back for another week at least, would the girls like to stay there? It might be a tight squeeze for all four of you here.”

“Only if you’re certain they won’t mind.”

They waved their hands in a ‘don’t worry about it’ gesture. Lurelin did seem to have a more communal way of living than other places in Hyrule that Sae-byeok had visited.

“Wow, so this is a Lurelin house.” Ji-Yeong was free to explore in close detail, without an audience; she walked in and stared up at the trunk of the palm tree in the center that served as the anchoring pillar. She put her hand on it and walked around, admiring the ingenuity of the craftsmanship, the thatched roof and woven floor. The beds were also woven mats, strung between two pieces of wood so that the tension kept them off the ground. They had thin and slightly coarse linen blankets, freshly washed and hanging on the inside line stretching across the room.

“Is it comfortable enough for you?” Sae-byeok asked. “Do you want the bedroll instead? I know it’s not much cushion to sleep on but it stays cooler too. You get used to it pretty quickly.”

“I’ll try it for a night or two. I think it’ll be fine.” Ji-Yeong assured her. It wasn’t as comfortable as their futon back in Hateno, and though her fatigue was much improved, she still needed rest, especially after the travel and with the hot weather here.

They visited the floating market in the morning, to Ji-Yeong’s great delight, and she dragged Sae-byeok from boat to boat as she eagerly looked through all of their wares: seashells, fishing equipment, nets, clothing, fruit, flowers, seafood, bait, general goods from elsewhere in Hyrule. One boat at the end of the dock even had birds, cuoccos to raise as livestock, and a burst of colorful exotic ones to keep as pets. It was kept at a distance from the rest due to the cacophony of loud chirping and squawking.

They bought clothing; Ji-Yeong was clearly ecstatic as she picked out short-cropped wrap tops with fish hook patterns dyed in, and skirts that tied at the side, plus shell necklaces of various intricate design. The shopkeeper looked equally ecstatic to receive her rupees.

“They wouldn’t allow me to wear local dress on my last visit, though I very much wished to.” The material was heavier and rougher than her silk dresses, but she reveled in getting the chance to put it on.

Sae-byeok opted for loose tunics and shorts instead, as always aiming for clothing that didn’t restrict her movement.

“This too?” Ji-Yeong held up a collar necklace made of white shells cut to the same size, with one larger spiraled conch hanging down from the center. “Would you wear it?”

“Sure.” Sae-byeok gave in immediately, and it was worth it to watch her grow even more pleased as it was added to their pile.

The next morning, a distant crack of thunder woke Sae-byeok in the early hours. She was glad to be on land; Ali had told her stories of sudden squalls when they were far out. She walked the few meters from the house down to the water to watch the storm roll in. The fronds on the palm trees were blowing fiercely, flashes of light in the dark clouds, but no rain had fallen yet. It was colder than normal, but still humid enough that she was fine in her shorts.

“Sae-byeok?!” Ji-Yeong’s voice sounded from inside the house. A note of panic was clear in her tone and Sae-byeok immediately turned away from the beach, running towards her.

The Princess was already rushing outside, stumbling down the few stairs that led up to the stilted porch; Sae-byeok caught her before she fell into the sand.

“What is it, what’s wrong?” She asked frantically, brushing her hair back and checking her over.

Ji-Yeong looked disoriented, blinking hard as she woke up more in the weak light of the graywashed outdoors. “Everything was moving, and you weren’t there…”

She thought about the inside of the house: normally spacious and airy, the strong breeze from the changing weather blowing through, the light flickering and strange due to the storm. Not unlike the Sanctum towards the end of the fight. She could see how, caught in the transition of sleep to wakefulness, Ji-Yeong would be brought right back to that place.

“I’m right here.” Sae-byeok assured her. Gently, she wrapped her hand around her wrist, now healed. “I’m with you.”

Ji-Yeong looked in her eyes, shifting her bare feet in the cool sand, took in a deep breath, her loose nightgown billowing around her. “You’re with me.”

“Let’s get dressed and go to Ali and Reema’s for the day, yeah? Looks like it’s going to rain soon.”

Ji-Yeong nodded, still pale but less haunted. “Yes, let’s do that.”

The other house was warm and filled with chatter, Rayan squealing and babbling as everyone took turns playing with him until he went down for a nap. The tension in Ji-Yeong’s face quickly faded as she discovered a loom and asked Reema if she could teach her how to weave. Sae-byeok relaxed too, working with everyone else on making new crab traps for their next outing. The rain came down in steady sheets and they all took a long rest after lunch.

Ji-Yeong’s face was still troubled as she slept, a small furrowed line in her brow. Sae-byeok took her hand, rubbing her thumb in circles over the delicate ridges of her knuckles, and her face smoothed out.

The next day was sunny and hot and they headed out early to collect the crab traps set out from the night before and fish. Sae-byeok went without a hat and Ji-Yeong scolded her. “You’re going to get sunburnt!”

“Nah, I’ll just tan and get even more freckles.” But she accepted the straw hat that the Princess waved at her, plopping it on her head as she reeled in a net, winking at her. Ji-Yeong wrinkled her nose at her but smiled under her own broad-brimmed hat. The neighbors treated them to a crab stir-fry, spicy with peppers, and they lounged for a little while. Later, they rowed a canoe over to a small island with a low cliff they could scrabble up. They had Cheol show them the diving technique that Ali and Reema had taught him, trying to find sea snails in the bay below. Sae-byeok cracked open palm fruit for them to drink before they rowed back, the water fresh and clear, newly fallen from the trees that extended high above them, curving up into the sky.

It started drizzling on their way back in.

“Funny.” Ji-Yeong looked up. “I can hardly see a cloud. I figured the rain was past for the time being.”

“It rains all the time here.” Cheol, sitting in the middle, complained. “Even when it’s been sunny the whole day.”

Sae-byeok shrugged. “It’s not that bad. Just sprinkling.”

Ji-Yeong closed her eyes, turning her face up and letting the tiny droplets dot her skin. She kept up with the rhythm of the oars, the sea pulling at them as she and Sae-byeok worked in tandem, the water lapping at the sides of the canoe. Sitting at the front of the boat, she opened her eyes to see the coral blaze of the sunset, the coastline of Lurelin giving in to the cliffs of Faron and the rise of the rest of Hyrule behind it. The light at the end of the day was always so vivid out here—more than any other place she’d seen, even Gerudo.

The vista blurred as a well of gratitude sprung up within her; before the Calamity, she would have never been allowed to do anything like this: cliff-diving, getting calluses on her palms from rowing. As Princess, her daily life was too sheltered and curated by her minders.

After their victory, she had felt unmoored, so uncertain. Her life’s purpose as it had been foretold was completed, and figuring out what to do next had been overwhelming, her mind caught in a flurry on the trip to Hateno. But she knew who she was, what she was capable of. She had endured unimaginable trials. Living a regular life with caring people like the Kangs would be a reward. They were all here now because of Sae-byeok. And if Sae-byeok was beside her, well, what harm could ever come her way?

“I agree, it’s not bad.” Ji-Yeong replied. “It feels rather auspicious, actually.”

“Yeah?” Though she couldn’t see her, she could envision Sae-byeok’s face as clearly as if she was standing before her, perking up at any hint of divination. “I like that. Especially coming from you.”

“I can’t promise it for sure, but I’ll put in a good word with the Goddess when we reach the shore.”

There was a small statue of Hylia nestled into the rocky shoreline leading to the second largest building in town after the gambling house, the Lurelin inn; Ji-Yeong stopped to make good on her word once they tied up their canoe. Sae-byeok also knelt before the little figure and gave thanks for their time here, and for their safe return from the sea.

It was a little odd to pray to the Goddess now, knowing Ji-Yeong and how the Princess embodied her. Whenever she had a time for personal communication with the deity, Sae-byeok just set that aside. Still, she wondered if some part of Ji-Yeong knew how deep her feelings for her ran, if the Goddess shared her all-seeing knowledge with her human counterpart.

They spent the next few days in a big group, living life like Lureliners.

“Let’s go somewhere today.” Sae-byeok said, turning away from the door. An air of excitement had dawned on her.

“Sure.” Ji-Yeong smiled. She had no idea what it could possibly be, but it was spreading to her, too. “Just the two of us? You have somewhere in mind?”

She nodded eagerly. “I’ll go tell the others and then we’ll get going.”

They headed up the main road leading out of the village toward Faron, but diverted on a small trail leading uphill. Insects trilled loudly all around them, ringing out from their hiding places on the tall trees and lush green fronds. As they moved further away from the beach breeze, the tropical humidity grew thick and hot, moisture beading on their skin. Sae-byeok was dressed in tan shorts and a loose cerulean tunic with the pattern of a fishhook dyed in a darker blue, her sword on her back—just in case—and her seashell necklace from the market shining in different colors; Ji-Yeong was in a dress with a wrap-around bodice and a flowy skirt. It was bright and comfortable, and they fit right into the vivid landscape.

“I promise it doesn’t get too steep.” Sae-byeok said. “It just takes a while since it winds around.”

Ji-Yeong chatted all the way up the path, a running commentary on their time in Lurelin, how lovely the Abduls were, the delicious seafood, better than even the Zora kingdom could offer. “Though you mustn’t tell them I said that, of course. I think river fish just can’t compare to sea-caught.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Princess.” Sae-byeok added this amusing oath to her many sworn ones.

They reached the last incline, which actually was a little steep. Sae-byeok needed to grab Ji-Yeong’s hand and help her up, walking ahead of her and then turning back to lean down in order to pull her up and along.

She assured her that she wouldn’t let her fall, her hand held fast within hers. “I got you.”

They crested the last ridge and suddenly the entire sky opened up as they reached the summit.

“You did it!” Sae-byeok praised her. Ji-Yeong did a champion’s pose that made them both laugh until they were out of breath. Everything felt carefree and wonderful.

There was a lake here, the surface almost perfectly still, except for a slight ripple from a soft wind from the eastern sea.

Throwing her arms open, Sae-byeok grinned widely as she showed off the body of water. “Look, it’s shaped almost perfectly like a heart! Isn’t that unusual? I found it when we were last here all together and I was moping around and decided to go for a walk by myself. Since then it’s just been my own secret place.” She was suntanned, already with more freckles than she’d had when they first arrived, a fine sheen of sweat lying on her skin. “Do you like it?”

“I do.” Ji-Yeong said. But she wasn’t looking at the lake at all, only at her. It was dawning on her that the rest of Hyrule could disappear and leave just the two of them here for another century and she would be perfectly content.

Sae-byeok walked closer to it and crouched down, motioning her over. “Come here, look at this. This is what I really wanted to show you.” She was cradling a small plant in her palm.

Ji-Yeong gasped, hurrying to her side and kneeling down next to her. “Is that-?” She held a hand out, gently turning the flower up to get a better look. “I cannot believe you found one.” She choked back her swell of emotion.

“I wasn’t sure this was the right one, but it’s certainly a rare one. In all my travels, this is maybe the second time I’ve seen it. I was just glad I remembered it was here, after you showed it to me in your book. ‘The Silent Princess’.” Sae-byeok gave a small laugh. “What a name for a flower. ‘Silent’, not a word I would ever use to describe you.” She gazed at Ji-Yeong for a long moment, as if committing her awestruck face to memory. “It is beautiful. I’m happy you finally get to see it. So, are you happy too?”

Ji-Yeong stared at her, overwhelmed.

“I love you, Sae-byeok.”

She clapped a hand over her mouth and Sae-byeok’s eyes went wide.

“I-I’m sorry.” Ji-Yeong stuttered. It was the most painfully human she’d ever looked. She stood up and began backing away. “I didn’t mean to say that, it just slipped out. Please, Sae-byeok, don’t feel obligated-“

“Obligated to return your love?” Sae-byeok gave a little exasperated exhale that still didn’t manage to take the huge smile away from her face. “Ji-Yeong, you released me from all my obligations.” She reached out to end her retreat and pull her closer towards her. “Nothing is making me love you back. I just do.” Brushing her hair away from her face, she took in Ji-Yeong’s features—no golden jewelry today besides her nose piercing, her face flushed from her panic and the cool wind blowing over the mountaintop. She was trembling a little still, nervous, but she looked up to return her gaze.

If joy was a tool she could wield as she had her blade, Sae-byeok could best the Calamity again a thousand times over in this moment.

Ji-Yeong’s eyes were huge. “You do?”

“Of course I do. How could I not? You’re the most selfless, bravest person I’ve ever met. I was just waiting for you to say it first. I hoped you would, someday.”

Ji-Yeong suddenly looked crestfallen, her cheek resting in Sae-byeok’s palm. “You call me selfless and yet you would have waited another century for me to not be a coward.”

She shook her head. “You’ve never been a coward.”

“But you left it to me to admit that my feelings were stronger than friendship?”

Sae-byeok shrugged. “You had to be the one to decide if you wanted me to be more than just your Knight. You’re the one with the future of a kingdom on your shoulders. I thought you might want to start looking for a husband to be your King Consort.”

Ji-Yeong recoiled, so visibly that it made Sae-byeok laugh. “No, I wasn’t thinking that at all.” She reached up to cup Sae-byeok’s face. “Had the Calamity not happened, I would have been betrothed soon after my birthday. But now I’m free to live my life as I wish, and I cannot envision a future without you.”

Sae-byeok covered her hand with hers. “I’m relieved, my Princess, for I would be wretched without you.”

A rush of tears filled her eyes. “You would not have told me of your feelings if I were to have searched for a King Consort?”

Sae-byeok’s lips drew up to the side of her face, concealing the full depth of that pain she’d had when she had thought about that. “No, I would not have, Ji-Yeong.”

Her hands grasped at Sae-byeok’s tunic and her head sank down, holding back her sobs. Her Knight embraced her, her hand sliding up into her hair to turn her face back upwards.

“Shh, I wish for you to be happy today, and for all days, Princess.”

“Please don’t hold anything back from me.” She asked her, the last of her tears running down toward her chin. “Especially at the cost of yourself.”

“That was the only thing. I didn’t want to sway you, due to our past together.” Sae-byeok pressed her lips to her forehead, on the spot where Ji-Yeong had first touched her, utilizing all her might to manifest herself.

“You’re everything I needed.” She smiled, finally relaxing. “That’s why the Sword chose you.”

“And I was destined to be your Knight so that I may be by your side, always.”

“I know.”

Sae-byeok took in the sight of her, her eyelashes damp from her earlier crying, but crinkled with happiness now. She never dreamed that when that golden figure had appeared to her in the woods and asked her for her help, that she would someday be holding her like this.

“Can I kiss you already? I’ve been wanting to for a while now.” She admitted, Ji-Yeong flushing again at her words.

Neither had ever kissed anyone else before, but it was an easier challenge than the others they’d faced.

“Sorry if I’m bad at it.” Ji-Yeong whispered, bashful.

“You’re not going to be.” Sae-byeok promised her, leaning down and closing in.

They drew apart. Ji-Yeong was beaming, radiant—no goddess powers needed for that.

“Told you.” Sae-byeok said, waiting just a second to see her smile with relief before leaning down to kiss her again.

Their arms hooked together, they kept glancing at each other shyly as they headed back down the curving path, stopping at times to take in the view of the sun over the ocean.

“Look out there.” Ji-Yeong pointed out to the horizon, looking out, out. “I wonder if there’s anything beyond Eventide Island. My sense of Hyrule flows out with the sea.” She was made of constant amazement and sunset tones.

Sae-byeok kissed her again, now that she could.

“Let’s ask the villagers if anyone’s ever arrived from there.”

That night in Lurelin, as they went to sleep, Ji-Yeong wound her arms around Sae-byeok, free to be intimate with her rather than the simple closeness they’d had when sharing beds before.

She was drawing a finger over the scar on her neck, only just visible by the moonlight. In the days after they’d defeated the Calamity, she’d fussed over its healing, keeping a close eye on it. On the way to Hateno, she asked if it ever burned or caused Sae-byeok pain, worried that the stinger contained a lasting poison that would turn the flesh necrotic. Sometimes she’d jolt awake from nightmares where Sae-byeok grew sicker and sicker from it and she was unable to do anything to help, all of her known remedies futile. But it had healed over like any normal wound.

“When I awoke in the Sanctum after the battle and saw you lying there, so still…I thought for all of my power, I was going to lose you.” She spoke solemnly, her finger still moving over her scar. “I couldn’t bear the thought. I wanted to give myself in your place.”

Sae-byeok turned around to face her, placing her hand on her face, her thumb stroking her cheek. “Shh. You’ve already done that. I’ve watched you do that.”

“Oh. That’s right.” Ji-Yeong reddened, remembering that she’d witnessed her initial confrontation with the Calamity. She was the only person who had, actually.

“I’m meant to protect you, so you can’t be doing that. And besides that…you mean too much to me. I wouldn’t want you to.”

“All right.” Ji-Yeong acknowledged. “No self-sacrifice on my part. Or yours, either.”

Sae-byeok’s mouth was already opening to protest.

“Please.” The Princess cut her off.

Lying down intertwined like this, their legs tangled together, the memory of her pleading voice saying that same word against her neck in the Sanctum jumped to the front of her mind. Ji-Yeong’s hand found its way to the familiar spot on her waist, that other long and jagged scar.

“You won’t lose me.” Her Knight assured her.

“Good.” She breathed against her lips, and settled against her.

—

They walked back to Hateno along the shoreline, Cheol and In-suk up ahead with Jeju, their hands clasped.

In-suk glanced back at them, her eyes going wide at the sight of their fingers threaded together.

Sae-byeok, noticing, decided to drive the point home, tugging Ji-Yeong towards her and leaning down to press a kiss against her cheek, the Princess angling her face as though it was already second nature.

In-suk turned back smiling, and Sae-byeok was the only one who noticed her arm go up to brush tears from her eyes.

—

They had an early dinner once they arrived home and by then it was getting dark.

Ji-Yeong took her basket with her bath supplies off the shelf in the pantry. “I’ll be back.” She said, and waited for a beat. Sae-byeok rushed to grab her own and was right behind her as she headed down the hill to the small sheltered pond that they used for their bath water. It wasn’t naturally heated as the hot springs beneath the castle were, the water temperate at best and chilly at worst, but it served its purpose.

Ji-Yeong looked over her shoulder at Sae-byeok and tossed her a smirk as she slipped off her sandals and lifted the hem of her skirt, wading into the shallow stream that lead to the more private pond, enclosed within a ring of high rock facings.

“Here. Let me help you.” Sae-byeok went to unbutton her bodice, leaving her in her thin shift.

Ji-Yeong shivered, feeling her hands move down her back. She pulled her shift off, setting it carelessly on the large bolder that protruded out of the water. Sae-byeok put her own shirt and trousers down before taking her hands, guiding her over to the small waterfall, letting it crash onto their heads and upon their shoulders.

She reached up to hold her face in her hands, running her thumbs over her cheekbones, her new freckles, the soft whorls of her ears, down to her delicate plush lips. A century she had been without a body, without touch. On some distant level, she had felt every passing day. “You came to get me.”

Sae-byeok met her gaze, water streaming down her neck, her eyes dark.

Ji-Yeong carded her fingers through her wet hair. “Thank you.” She whispered against her lips, barely audible over the lapping of the ripples they were making, moonlight refracting in broken circles. Sae-byeok just pulled her closer, their bare skin sleek and smooth, keeping her safe.

—

They’d been back in Hateno for several days when Ji-Yeong had to bring it up. Not without great hesitation.

“Sae-byeok, I believe it would be prudent to call upon those whom I once knew.”

They were outside of the library, perched on the hill that overlooked the entire village—the whitewashed buildings and red-tiled roofs, windmills spinning in the strong winds that whistled down from the surrounding mountain ranges. At their backs was the sea from where they’d recently returned.

Her face placid, Sae-byeok nodded, her short hair curling around her face in the breeze. “You don’t know what it will look like but have a court that needs establishing, that I get. Where shall we go to first, Princess?”

Ji-Yeong let out a sigh of relief. “I thought you would be more torn about having to set out again.”

“Hateno is my home, and I hope you feel at home here too. But you weren’t meant to be in one place.” Sae-byeok assured her. “And now when I leave, I know with certainty that I can return. I haven’t had that since the first time.” Slowly, a broad grin overtook her face. “Besides, I’ve kind of been missing the road.”

Ji-Yeong shook her head, impossibly fond. Sae-byeok had been changed by her journey too, discontent to settle down in one spot forever when there was a new land out there to discover. In that way they were perfectly matched once more, roaming creatures of Hyrule.

“Let’s take a few more days, shall we?”

—

“Here, take some more smoked fish.” In-suk handed her another bundle.

“Mama, I don’t need to sell them.” Sae-byeok protested, trying to hand it back. “You and Cheol keep this.”

“But it’s not heavy for you!” Cheol chimed in. “You can carry everything!”

Sae-byeok nudged at him with her foot and he squealed as he tried to dodge it. “Yeah, we’ve got enough.”

“Not to sell, just enjoy a home-cooked meal when you’re out there, okay? It comforts me to think I’m taking care of my girls while they’re away.” In-suk urged her, coming up to Ji-Yeong and wrapping her arm around her shoulder, ruthlessly ending the squabble.

“And bring us back some nice souvenirs.” She smiled, though it was still tinged with sadness.

—

“So, the Zora Domain first?” Sae-byeok asked her. “Why there?”

“They’re a kingdom within Hyrule, and with their long lifespans, King Dorephan is surely still reigning. He will acknowledge me and coronate me as Queen. Not that there is any political system left to be run of my family’s court.” Ji-Yeong’s voice was wry. “But it is my birthright. I would like to claim it.”

“Certainly.”

“It is odd for a Zora to do it for me. Normally it would be a priestess or a minister, a Hylian, but…” There was no one left. “King Dorephan is a kind Zora. He knows that if our roles were reversed, that I would be honored to coronate his children, Mipha and Sidon.” Ji-Yeong sighed heavily and Sae-byeok rubbed her shoulders, feeling the tension in them.

“Questions about what it would mean to be Queen were less important to me than trying to get the strength to fight the Calamity. But now I must grapple with them.”

“You can think about it as we journey there. Maybe even ask his advice. He is a ruler himself.” Sae-byeok mused and Ji-Yeong gazed at her warmly. “Should we go to Kakariko after?”

Ji-Yeong’s expression soured. “Oh Il-nam will probably ask for my hand despite his esteemed age.”

Sae-byeok laughed. “I’m sure you can find a way to let him down gently. But I have a vivid memory of how nice the hotel bath is, so I say we should go.”

This cheered the Princess up. “They were a village renown for their specialty produce and craftsmanship. I feel that a century has not changed that.”

Before they left Hateno, Ji-Yeong asked if she could try the glider.

Sae-byeok stared at her.

“Please?” She stared back. Sae-byeok sighed.

A complete nervous wreck, she went up to the hill behind their house and judged the angle and tried it herself before she agreed. The winds weren’t strong that day. She insisted on running beside her so she could catch her if she fell. “Just let go of it if there’s a gust, okay? I’ll retrieve it.”

“Oh, it is quite stressful.” The Princess said, lifting it up into the air, feeling it catch the updraft and having to pull against it. “I don’t have the same upper body strength that you do.” She managed to coast the length of hill, Sae-byeok’s long legs pumping next to her, within arm’s reach, both of them laughing, before she plunked down safely into the grassy knoll above the yard. “Cheol needs to try this!” She shouted with glee.

Sae-byeok, sweaty, relieved, laid out flat and wiped her forehead. “Let me rest for a minute.”

Cheol and Ji-Yeong made Sae-byeok their glider attendant until it got too dark. She was only a little more tired taking down the Calamity.

Another couple of days of preparation, and they were ready to set out again. Jeju stamped her hoof eagerly while they saddled her up.

"Bye Mama, Cheol." Sae-byeok embraced them. “We’ll be here again as soon as we can cross our path back this way.”

"Bye." Cheol was looking sad, but he perked up slightly. "Will you take me to explore the castle someday?"

Sae-byeok winced internally, knowing how Ji-Yeong felt about the castle, but she looked pensive.

"Your sister has had a great journey that’s taken her all over Hyrule. Maybe there’s something important out there for you, Cheol."

He grinned. "Cool."

He reached out to hug her, before In-suk did the same. She was still a little awkward and stiff with touch with anyone who wasn’t Sae-byeok, but she was getting better at it.

“We’ll be fine.” In-suk assured them. “Just come see us when you can. We only have to worry a little bit this time.” She smiled.

Sae-byeok took Jeju’s reins to lead her out of town. They started walking out across the bridge, waving at them, Ji-Yeong twisted in the saddle, until they turned onto the trail that led to the Main Street and were out of sight.

There was a sense of leisure as they went along the trails to the Zora Domain, not hounded by the specter of the Calamity as Sae-byeok had been as she’d traveled alone, nor anxious to return to Hateno, battered and exhausted as they’d been afterward. Fully restored, they paused often to admire the landscape, or veer off to explore an interesting sight, or scavenge promising foliage.

“It feels like a wonderful adventure.” Ji-Yeong remarked, grinning as they returned to the path. They’d spent the afternoon fishing in the river near the Dueling Peaks stable, the nearby woods full of chattering birds.

“Isn’t it?” Sae-byeok asked.

—

“You’re taking forever to get ready today.” Sae-byeok complained, squinting in the bright sunlight.

“I have to do my makeup! We’re arriving today. You can’t expect me to arrive at the court of a fellow kingdom without making an appearance.”

“Okay, sure.” She said, bemused. “Now I know to expect it for the next kingdom we visit.”

From inside the tent, she heard a faint “tch” sound of exasperation.

Court politics and etiquette all seemed so stuffy. She’d never seen her doing this type of work before, where she had to greet a royal on her same level before.

“Okay, help me up?” Ji-Yeong called. “Apologies, darling, I won’t be able to assist you with breaking down the tent.”

“That’s fine.” Sae-byeok said, trailing off with distraction as Ji-Yeong emerged, careful not to get anything caught on the tent poles.

She was a sight of splendor, wrapped in layer after layer of long silks and fastenings, ornaments tucked into her bodice and sashes and even her sleeves. Her hair was braided and pinned into a complicated updo around one of her diamond circlets, the large clear gems dazzling in the sunlight.

“I’m scared to mess up your clothing by even touching you.” Sae-byeok said, wincing as she gingerly lifted her up, but she managed to set her in side-saddle without a fallen treasure.

Atop the golden-haired horse Sae-byeok had found for her not far from the Plateau, in the Mabe Prairie, she looked every inch the royal figurehead that she was, her face placid and doll-like.

“Wow.” Sae-byeok breathed, running her hands down her silken legs, finally taking her in.

Ji-Yeong cracked an eye open at her and contorted her face into a mean mug.

“Okay, illusion ruined.” Sae-byeok laughed and pinched her cheek, avoiding the spots of rouge. Ji-Yeong went to playfully bite at her fingers. “The horse almost had me convinced.”

They’d been riding along towards the Lanaryu Wetlands when Sae-byeok had glanced toward the herd of wild horses and pulled Jeju’s reins to a hard stop, inwardly steeling herself for a chase now that she’d spotted the nearest match to Ji-Yeong’s childhood horse that she’d ever seen.

“Wish me luck.” She’d ended up having to sprint around the grassland for the better part of an hour, continually spooking the skittish group of horses even in her stealth suit, before she finally got the upper hand and managed to leap onto her chosen pick.

The mare wasn’t pure white, dotted with a couple of brown flecks on her flank, but she was pretty damn close.

Ji-Yeong beamed at her as she rode over to her, unsteady without any real equipment on the newly-caught horse, her hands gripping her mane, the bright gold reminding her of the thick thread that Ji-Yeong used to wear in her plait.

Sae-byeok raised her eyebrows at her. “Is my Princess pleased?”

She could see it in her face. “Indeed.” She leaned down from Jeju to hold her hand out to the new horse. “Hello, lovely. Did this mean brute scare you?”

Sae-byeok scowled, but only for a second. “I’ll ride her for a ways to train her. What do you think, for a name?”

“Hm, let me come up with some options on our ride over to the stable.”

It was quite the change to have the sound of two horses side-by-side, their breathing and footsteps. The new horse wasn’t as stubborn as Jeju had been, not tossing her head or snorting but somewhat obediently walking along.

“Nirvata.” Ji-Yeong turned to her. “Nirvata will suit her, after the lake we pass on our way to and from Hateno. A name of homecoming. Together with Jeju, they shall have names of spirit and earth.”

Now, her circlet glimmered in her dark brown hair and the many layers of silk of her brightly colored gown draped over the flanks of her horse, who was as gentle in nature as Jeju was battle hardened. They strode together calmly as they set out on the last stretch to visit the Zora.

“Come on, let’s go, make our greetings, announce the end of the Calamity, have a seafood feast, say that I’m not interested in restoring the kingdom as it used to be, the Zora king will coronate me as Queen anyways, and get our real goal accomplished.”

“I’ll ride just ahead of you on the path to clear out any dangers.” Besides the squawking sounds of a few lizalfos making their nests along the waterfall-lined trail, there wasn’t much harm lurking about.

The last few crossings into the Domain were a spectacle. The path had twisted them into mountains that jutted out overhead, a mineral unlike any Sae-byeok had seen so far in Hyrule. They were smooth, a deep silvery blue that she would be unable to scale even with equipment due to the lack of handholds and crevices to dig her toes into. There were several impressively long Zora-made bridges that had been constructed.

"Not that they need them, they just swim upstream." Ji-Yeong told her. "They built them as a courtesy for visitors. If they ever wanted to isolate themselves again, all they’d have to do is destroy them."

"When did they stop isolating themselves? What are these made out of?" Sae-byeok asked, fascinated, examining the stone of the bridge, running her hand alongside it. It was as sleek as the metal of her Sword, silver but glowing faintly, with a softer blue than nightshade.

"Hm, maybe 460–sorry, 560 years ago or so? I’d need to look up the exact dates. They reached out to the Hylian Royal Family for allyship at that time, they asked for permission to traverse our rivers. Much later we learned that the fish spawn in their waters had been low that year and they were in desperate need of more food supply. The bridges are constructed from luminous stone, the ore is common in this region but only the Zora is so skilled at crafting it."

Sae-byeok smiled at her. "The amount of knowledge you can rattle off just always amazes me.”

Ji-Yeong shook her head. “It was one of my duties. You had your regular tasks in Deya, to keep the land and household running. I had to know our diplomats and their regions and everything that goes into that.”

They left Jeju and Nirvata on grassland just outside the last bridge into the Domain.

“There’s no suitable food for them inside.” Ji-Yeong explained. “They’ll be more comfortable.”

There were scattered pine trees and strange tufts of pink and purple plants that looked like seaweed floating without being submerged in water. Sae-byeok studied them, fascinated.

‘They’re freshwater plants." Ji-Yeong said. "Look, they like them!"

Sae-byeok laughed at their content chewing, fronds sticking out of their mouths. “I’m glad Jeju has another horse to keep her company.”

They walked across the spectacle that was the Great Bridge, ridges of mountains and various waterfalls fading into view behind the enormous silver-blue palace…shaped like a fish.

"Oh wow." Sae-byeok breathed, partly from the shape but mostly from its beauty.

"Yup." Ji-Yeong said. Everyone reacted this way to the Domain.

“I’ll be just behind you, my lady.” Sae-byeok said, stepping just off to her side, at an angle. On the road she was always in front to guard her, but the Zora were not a threat.

As they made their way to the entrance, the pair of guards at the end of the bridge halted them. Sae-byeok examined them as discreetly as she could, intrigued by their forms; they were taller than her by nearly two heads, with golden eyes and pointed teeth. Despite their humanoid limbs and torsos, they had many fins and only a few webbed fingers. “What business do you have here?”

“I request a meeting with King Dorephan.” Ji-Yeong said pleasantly.

“And who are you, Miss?”

A wizened old Zora who happened to be passing by wandered over, curious at unusual visitors. His face had wrinkles and spots just like Hylians, and his fins were faded and tattered at the ends, his posture hunched over, an interesting mix of physiology.

He squinted at Ji-Yeong and made a guttural noise of shock.

“P-Princess? Is that you?”

The guards looked over at him with confusion.

“Yes, indeed.” Ji-Yeong smiled at him. “Forgive me, it has been so long, I do not recall your name…?”

He bowed slightly. “It is Muzu, your Highness, I am delighted to see you again.”

Sae-byeok faintly heard him hiss, ‘Bow, you idiots!’ At the two guards. She stifled a grin.

“We’ll send for an escort for you to see the King right away.”

“Thank you, kind Muzu.”

A more stately Zora than the two guards appeared and offered them refreshments, before leading them up staircase after staircase through the center of the Domain.

“King Dorephan, the, the Princess Ji-Yeong of Hyrule and her Knight, the Lady Sae-byeok, to see you.” The Zora still stumbled over his introduction, knowing how it must sound.

“The who?” The King asked incredulously, blinking.

For her part, Sae-byeok was taking in the scale of the room. The Zora never stopped growing, and his body had grown so enormous that Sae-byeok had to process it for a moment. She had seldom seen beings so mammoth that she wasn’t actively fighting against. But he had plenty of markings of his own royal stature: silver crown and jewelry military regalia. She appreciated that that wasn’t merely for show; the King was scarred from the Zora’s own battles, a prominent one right across his forehead.

The King leaned down, spots of darker amber in his golden eyes as he examined Ji-Yeong.

“My goodness, child. I cannot believe it. It is truly a blessing of Hylia herself that you should stand before me here today. How can it be that you still live, that you are not an old woman after all these years. You’re just a little older now than I last saw you. Sidon was on his trout teeth, he was so small.”

“It has been much too long, King Dorephan. In ordinary times I would be elderly, perhaps moved on to the heavenly realm by now.”

“So you have vanquished it?”

“Yes, with Sae-byeok, my Knight.”

“Ah, forgive me.” He turned his attention to her. “I am Dorephan, King of the Zora. The lands owe you both a great debt.”

She bowed her head slightly, pleased that he didn’t seem surprised or comment that she was a woman. “It just had to be done. Erm, Your Highness.” She wasn’t sure how to refer to him, defaulting to matching Ji-Yeong’s terminology.

He turned his attention back to her. “What do you need from us Zora, Princess?”

“Will you place my crown upon me?” She looked up at him with a steady gaze and he returned it with a fondness that had been absent from her own father’s eyes.

“That one, you needn’t ask for.” He told her. “We have a statue of the Goddess here in the Domain; we shall plan the ceremony to take place there.”

“Thank you, truly.” Ji-Yeong said, her demeanor finally wavering slightly at his thoughtfulness and easy kindness.

“How is the state of the castle?”

She shook her head. “It is best left to be ruins now.”

“I see. Then where do you set your sights upon, future Queen?” He pressed. King Dorephan understood the reality of her situation, that despite her blood, she had no court. But her answer would let him know how far she wished to take it—would she lay the grounds for another castle, somewhere else?

“The Temple.” She said, and he smiled, surprised, satisfied. “If you would be so gracious as to lend us the secrecy of your techniques to reconstruct parts of it.”

“Nothing would delight me more.”

—

It was on the way to the Domain that Ji-Yeong had first brought it up.

They laid together in their tent, muscles sore after a long day of travel, the horses snuffling nearby. They had ended up never getting another bedroll.

“This has been so nice.” Ji-Yeong said. “To be with your family, and with the Abduls.”

Sae-byeok played with her hair. “But after we do these state visits, going between Hateno and Lurelin isn’t enough for you, either, is it?” It wasn’t enough for her anymore, either.

Ji-Yeong shook her head. “Not for forever. All of Hyrule is mine.”

Her partner made a musing noise. “Let’s put aside where to go. What do you want to do? If you could do anything.”

“I…” She ruminated on it for a minute.

“I wish to restore my mother’s temple.”

“On the Plateau?” The answer somehow didn’t come as a surprise to Sae-byeok. She could recall vividly the sight of the half-collapsed temple, the sacred quiet peace she’d found still inside, its power enough for her to have a rare face to face meeting with Ji-Yeong while she was encapsulated within the Sanctum. Ji-Yeong nodded against her.

“The castle can be lost, but the Temple…the Temple cannot.”

Her answer was simple. “Okay, let’s do it.”

“Really?”

“Sure. We’ll find a way.”

Ji-Yeong looked up at her, grateful. “You say that so easily.”

“I know what it means to you.” Sae-byeok laid back as she moved her body up.

“Yes, you know me.”

Ji-Yeong was pressing tight against her like she wished she could become rays of golden light again, fine enough and strong enough to pierce Sae-byeok’s atoms, entangled with her down to molecules.

“Please, Sae-byeok, I need you.” Ji-Yeong said frantically, sitting up, her hands moving to the ties of her own dress. Another pair of hands came to help her.

“Tell me what it is you need, princess.” Sae-byeok murmured, her voice low, the word coming out for the first time as more of an endearment than her title. “Tell me and I’ll give it to you.” Her pupils were blown, her mouth parted, and with deft movements she finished pulling the fastenings of her dress apart.

—

"Ready?" Sae-byeok asked, and Ji-Yeong nodded. She had expected her to wear a similarly ostentatious gown as she had when they had arrived, but it seemed she had opted for a plain white one, with a braided overlay. Something about it made her recall those visits to the Springs.

"Here. If you could give this to King Dorephan on my behalf, please." Ji-Yeong handed her a small wooden box and she escorted her out of their accommodation, a strange pool that, while refreshing, wasn’t exactly restful, forcing them to sleep floating upright.

The stairs and platforms were lined with Zora of all ages and colors, talking excitedly. They hushed and parted as they passed by, moving back in a wave once they reached the outer landing of the palace, where King Dorephan was already waiting.

The Domain’s statue of Hylia was tiny, protectively clasped within a half-shell on the lower courtyard.

King Dorephan carefully lifted the small crown out of the box with huge webbed hands to place upon Ji-Yeong’s head.

"As King of the Zora’s Domain, I do recognize your authority as Queen Ji-Yeong of Hyrule!" He declared. "And so shall my subjects. We recognize your victory over the hundred-years Calamity."

Ji-Yeong’s eyes widened and Sae-byeok smiled as rays of light briefly shone upon her and Hylia’s statue. To the untrained eye, it looked like the sun breaking through cloud cover, but Sae-byeok knew that particular light.

Ji-Yeong, her simple golden crown illuminated as a halo, glanced over at her with tears in her eyes; she managed to hold them back. Sae-byeok nodded at her as the beams faded away. Hylia had never appeared to her in the Springs, and despite being her, the Goddess still moved in separate and mysterious ways from Ji-Yeong. Having her radiance during her coronation was an additional blessing that she’d been wanting for a long, long time.

The ceremony drew to a close, the enormous crowd of Zora bursting into cheers, the embellishments on their silver jewelry jangling, and Ji-Yeong turned to Sae-byeok.

She kneeled, bowing her head over her knee. "My Queen." She rose back up and waited for her procession out of the courtyard.

Ji-Yeong sent her a fond look before she did just that, the woven overlay of her gown trailing over the luminous stone, Sae-byeok just a footstep behind.

They sat for the feast, waiting for King Dorephan to speak. Ji-Yeong let out a slight sigh of relief and leaned over to whisper to her. “I’m glad that’s over with.”

Sae-byeok pursed her lips to keep from laughing.

The feast, of course, featured a lot of fish, but also had many other delicacies local to the region that Sae-byeok had never tried. They were honored with several awe-inspiring performances that Sae-byeok couldn’t hope to replicate due to their swimming abilities. It lasted well into the night, as any good feast should.

—

They made their way to Kakariko, where they found Oh Il-nam sickly and abed, drifting in and out of consciousness. Ji-Yeong spoke with his family and sat beside him for a spell, patting his hand and talking to him about how lovely the village was, how the plum trees were blossoming, how she was glad he’d had a peaceful life there. She thanked him for his loyalty to her family, that they’d defeated the evil he’d waited his whole life to see. He didn’t seem to recognize her but managed a smile in one of his more lucid stretches.

“Anything you may need, please call on us, Queen Ji-Yeong.” His younger relatives bowed to them as they departed.

—

As they journeyed through Hyrule, they came across countless people in need of…lots of things. Finding missing things, which ran from family heirlooms to cuccos to horses to hair ribbons to people, investigating mysterious rumors: whispers in caves and glowing lights and sudden powerful winds, and of course, bothersome groups of monsters in the area.

All of it fell within Sae-byeok’s extensive capabilities. “I can help with that.” She told them mildly, before she laid out her gear to head out.

“Will you be okay here?” Sae-byeok asked, suited up for the first time since the Calamity in full armor. They were a solid distance from the camp—even if the melee got chaotic, no monster should go wandering this far and putting Ji-Yeong at risk.

Ji-Yeong raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. “Will you be all right without my help?”

Sae-byeok huffed in mock exasperation before she kissed her cheek. “I’ll call you if I need you!”

Ji-Yeong gave her a lookover teeming with lust. “Are you sure you don’t need me now? I’ve forgotten how attractive you are dressed like this.”

Sae-byeok’s cheeks burned hot. “Hylia. I’ll deal with you later.”

“Yes, you will!” Ji-Yeong whooped at her back as she turned away, undoubtedly blushing even more furiously. The tips of her ears were pink.

She set off down the hill and Ji-Yeong settled in from her safe nook to watch her sneak up to take out the lookouts with arrows, before the trio of monsters around the campfire noticed her presence and she had to fend them all off, moving through them like a tornado of glinting metal.

She was really looking forward to helping her take her armor off.

—

Ji-Yeong wore a lighter form of regalia when they went to visit Gerudo Town, foregoing her makeup due to the intense desert heat.

“I’m just going to sweat it off.” She sighed, adding more jewelry on instead. “It’s a shame I don’t have local dress in my size, I haven’t gone here since I was in my early teens.”

“That means you get to go shopping.” Sae-byeok teased, watching her light up.

They set off on foot from the Bazaar in the late afternoon, arriving at the entrance to town just before nightfall, the sky holding on to its last shades of orange.

“Oh, Sae-byeok!” Dorrah and Merina, the guards at the north entrance, relaxed and set their spears aside. “Welcome back to Gerudo Town.” They eyed Ji-Yeong with interest, the light from the torches catching on her heavy golden necklaces and wristlets and causing then to gleam. “And your guest…?”

“The Princess Ji-Yeong.” Mi-nyeo spoke up from behind them, materializing from one one of the nearby shopping stalls.

To Sae-byeok’s surprise, she knelt down before them. The guards followed suit, looking taken back.

“I am honored, your Highness. You are welcome here any time.”

“Thank you, Chief Han. Our victory over the Calamity is your victory as well, due to your kind care over Sae-byeok.” Ji-Yeong continued on, becoming solemn. “I am truly sorry for the loss of your grandmother. She was only in attendance at the castle that evening because of me.”

Mi-nyeo rose, brushing back her curtain of curly hair and shedding her formal posture, never to be seen again. “Part of her duties.” She waved her hand nonchalantly and began to walk into the center of the town square, still bustling with people at this hour. Hateno was sleepy in comparison, everyone closing their window shutters for the evening. “The Gerudo Chieftain couldn’t possibly miss the coming of age ball for the heir to the throne. Shame about the party though.”

“I have had a lot of guilt over that.” Ji-Yeong said. “That if I had been able to harness my powers sooner, maybe I could have prevented the Calamity altogether. I know it wasn’t my fault, but…”

Mi-nyeo nodded at her in understanding.

“Shame about the party.” Ji-Yeong concluded, making her and Sae-byeok laugh.

It was; Sae-byeok recalled the eerie remains of the banquet hall, set for days of celebration.

“I heard she could drink any man or woman under the table.” Mi-nyeo said wistfully.

“I never got to test that theory.”Ji-Yeong laughed. “I wasn’t of age.”

Sae-byeok winced as Mi-nyeo brightened.

“You have to try our offerings here. A Noble Pursuit can revive any soldier from their duties in the heat, I know firsthand. Now I get to just drink them for fun and diplomacy.”

“They are very good.” Sae-byeok confirmed. “But I would advise against challenging Mi-nyeo drink for drink.”

“Ah, you’re no fun, Sae-byeok!” Mi-nyeo slung her arm over her shoulder and gave her a rattling shake before releasing her. “She was so serious on her last visit here too, Princess.” She informed Ji-Yeong. “So you did choose a hard worker.”

“Ji-Yeong is actually Queen now.” Sae-byeok said stiffly. Somehow she’d forgotten Mi-nyeo’s uncanny ability to drive her up the wall. “We’ve been to see King Dorephan of the Zora for her coronation.”

“Oh, my apologies.” She dipped down in a strange but sincere bobbing curtsy.

“It’s all right, you couldn’t possibly have known.” Ji-Yeong said placidly. “If only there were a way for me to communicate with all leaders inside Hyrule at once.”

“Use your hoo-doo.” Mi-nyeo made a mystical humming sound and they laughed.

“My diplomatic quarters are this way.” Mi-nyeo lifted her chin towards the eastern side of the palace at the edge of town. “Not where Sae-byeok stayed after her little scratch last time, those were my personal guest quarters; this has an entirely separate entrance so you can come and go as you please without going through the main hall.”

Sae-byeok gave an indignant huff. “Thanks again for that.”

“Anytime.” She said easily, leading them past a guard into the side courtyard and to the stairwell.

“This is splendid, thank you.” Ji-Yeong said, looking into the doorway to see a spread of rooms adorned with colorful silks, a soft breeze making them flutter.

“I’ll have meals brought to you, but join me for dinner tomorrow.” She insisted.

“Certainly.” Ji-Yeong nodded. Sae-byeok narrowed her eyes at her and she winked once the Queen had turned around.

They spent the next day exploring the town and getting Ji-Yeong sets of Gerudo clothes from Saula before meeting Mi-nyeo at the restaurant where she and Sae-byeok had had dinner last time.

She had to cut Ji-Yeong off after two drinks, much to Mi-nyeo’s delight.

“You are too precious.” The chief squished the new Queen of Hyrule’s flushed cheeks with her hands, making her giggle. “I’m on your side if you guys ever split up.” She told her seriously, causing Sae-byeok to splutter into her own cocktail. Of course she’d clocked them as a couple right away.

“Now Byeokie,” She began.

“Don’t call me that.” Sae-byeok took another sip of her drink.

“O fierce Knight.” Mi-nyeo pouted. “You haven’t come across a Molduga when traversing our vast beautiful desert, have you?”

She glanced over at Ji-Yeong for her encyclopedic knowledge.

“It’s a gr-great sand creature that lurks beneath the dunes.” She hiccuped, lifting her hand to cover her mouth. “They sense the surface movement of their prey and-“

“Phew!” Mi-nyeo did a vulgar explosive gesture with her hand before pointing at her. “But their organs make for powerful medicine. Medicine that is hard to come by. We could use some replenishment.”

They must have used some of their limited supply on her during her last stay. And though there was no hard obligation to get it, Sae-byeok was more capable to kill this monster alone than a fleet of Gerudo soldiers. She’d have to work a hunt into their stay. She nodded at Mi-nyeo who winked again at her.

“Some hydromelon for dessert?”

They bid her a good night and she waved at them cheerfully, before turning attentively to the bartender.

Ji-Yeong was tipsy and indelicate on the walk back to their quarters, trying to slide her hands into the waistband of her silk trousers. “I wish to serve you tonight.” She said, kissing the bare tanned stretch of skin between her neck and her shoulder.

“Hylia.” Sae-byeok swore, working to pin her wandering hands. “We’re in the middle of the plaza!”

Ji-Yeong, uncaring, continued her evasive maneuvers, murmuring increasingly dirty incentives under her breath.

“Don’t make me carry you, Ji-Yeong. It’s not proper.” Sae-byeok threatened.

Unfortunately Ji-Yeong feared no threat from Sae-byeok, already knowing them to be hollow. Now she was going for the taller woman’s midriff top, rerouting her fingertips to try to breech that territory. “What if I very much want to be improper?”

“Apologies, my Queen.” Sae-byeok had reached her limit. She picked up Ji-Yeong and threw her over her shoulder like she was a bushel of Tabantha wheat. Her squeal of surprise and delight attracted the attention of the few late-night shopkeepers and revelers as the Knight hauled her away in the direction of the Chief’s residence.

“I’m banning you from drinking a Noble Pursuit ever again!” She chastised her as she giggled drunkenly into her back. “How do you have this little tolerance?” Thankfully they’d arrived safely at the side entrance where their guest quarters were. Sae-byeok placed Ji-Yeong down and turned to secure the door.

Light fingertips traced the bare strip of skin of her exposed midriff from her modified Gerudo clothing. “Ever again?” The Queen murmured, disappointed. “What if we took a bottle with us to some lonely field somewhere?”

Sae-byeok felt the drink in her own veins, thick and hot.

“That…would be okay.”

Ji-Yeong threw her head back and laughed, pulling her towards the bed.

—

Rebuilding took time. Cleanup was required, surveying what was left, and then possibly the hardest part, as it went against the instinct and purpose of their mission: they had to destroy a lot of the remnants. What good was only half the roof? Everything was in bits and pieces. Several times they had to go to Hateno before Gi-hun, frustrated, opted to come out himself and do the design.

He was the first person besides Sae-byeok to see the Temple and he entered it with his jaw hanging open, awed. Ji-Yeong was pleased, knowing that if he had this reaction when it had only been cleared of debris, it was going to be worth it to restore it for generations of Hylians to come.

He touched the columns with utter reverence.

“I’ll need to learn a technique on how to rebuild these arches. And glassmaking.” Sae-byeok spoke up after giving him a moment.

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You don’t want to just get them made for you?”

She frowned. “They’re not a standard square pane; if there’s a bad storm and one breaks it’d be easiest if we had the knowledge to fix it ourselves. Maybe we should build a furnace here to make our own glass? Then we’d just need to haul the sand out from Gerudo, we could do that with a cart and our two horses.“

He gave her a small smile. “If you two change your mind about the Temple, you can come work for me.”

She laughed and gave his shoulder a light punch. “Your model homes aren’t our style. Oh! But come look at what we’re doing with this one.”

“This was here already?” He asked, investigating the groundskeeper’s cottage. “It has good bones.”

They were doing an extension on it to make it their personal home on the Plateau, turning the front into just a kitchen and living space, building a bedroom and guest room and heated bath—once she could figure out how to run piping down from the lake underneath Mount Hylia.

Sae-byeok had made a rigging system of ropes to haul everything and everyone up, but they decided that they would likely need to find a way to connect the Plateau back to the land. As much as Sang-woo would salivate at the chance to study a shrine elevator, Ji-Yeong showed them where a grand staircase had once been on the side facing the castle, buried under a structural collapse from a shockwave during the Calamity’s eruption. It would also be an enormous challenge, but possible to dig it out and repair it.

“You saw my memory.” She told Sae-byeok later. “The procession for my mother’s funeral. They all went the entire way up Mount Hylia using that.”

They welcomed Zora visitors to Lake Hyrule, who had swam with blocks of luminous stone that they could use for the new flooring. A gift from King Dorephan, of course.

The Plateau was really the perfect place for them. They were only less than two week’s ride from almost anywhere, if they rode swiftly, and this way they could move in a circuit between everyone they knew.

Sometimes in the evening they would take a walk down near the forest and look out at the view of central Hyrule, the calm ruins of the castle in the distance.

Sae-byeok whistled. “Could you imagine trying to rebuild that?”

Ji-Yeong shook her head. “I’m glad we’ve let it be. I was always lonely there.”

—

The mountain air was crisp and cool. Maybe a little too cool; Ji-Yeong hadn’t been out to the northwest region since she was very young. So far all the areas they’d been to had been hot or temperate. But the view of the mountains were worth it.

“Sae-byeok? Sae-byeok!”

Ji-Yeong blinked in surprise as a man came running up to them, his arms open. The vague and watery memory of him clicked into place as he swept her partner up into a bear hug, lifting her off the ground.

“Jun-ho!” She smiled as he set her back down.

“Victorious!” He cried, arms up, and his eyes went from her to Ji-Yeong.

His mouth dropped open as he realized who her companion must be, and he immediately knelt.

“Queen Ji-Yeong.” Sae-byeok introduced her, arm around her shoulder in a way that indicated the depth of their relationship. Jun-ho’s eyebrows rose and he looked pleased.

Ji-Yeong looked up at her, exasperated. She turned to Jun-ho and smiled. “Just Ji-Yeong is fine.”

“My lady.” He ducked his head and she sighed. “It seems like lots of congratulations are in store for you both.”

Sae-byeok nodded. “We wanted to spend a little time out here. Are you free?”

“I can get cover.” He said easily. “You’re welcome to stay with me, my brother moved out so that I use that bedroom to host people now.”

“In-ho moved out?” Sae-byeok asked, astonished. From the little that she’d seen of him on her last visit, anxious and fretting from night terrors, she wasn’t sure if he would ever cope well on his own.

Jun-ho beamed. “He’s doing really well. We’ll go visit him.”

They had dinner at the restaurant in the inn, both of them laughing at Sae-byeok’s blissful reaction to the salmon, but it was her turn to laugh as Ji-Yeong laid upon the mattress in Jun-ho’s spare bedroom.

“Shh, this is the closest I’ve had to castle bedding.” Forget the mountains, she was going to stay right here for the rest of their trip. She smushed her hand over Sae-byeok’s mouth, pulling the down comforter over herself even tighter. After another minute she was dead asleep, not even stirring until the sun was high the next morning.

“How long has it been?” She asked her sincerely, blinking her eyes open. “You don’t look any older.”

Sae-byeok shook her head, amused. “You really need to stop thinking you’ve missed a chunk of time every time you’ve slept well, my love.”

“Can we shop for one of these?” Ji-Yeong had closed her eyes again.

“Don’t fall back asleep!” Sae-byeok dived under the duvet to pull her out and rescue her; she wriggled in protest. “I won’t let you go down again. But yes, we can get a mattress and duvet set today to bring home. We need to get you a Snowquill suit for the mountains anyway.”

She went limp, no doubt brightening at the thought of taking home a mattress like this as a souvenir. “Look how late it is, Sae-byeok! Everything must be open already!”

“Breakfast first!” Sae-byeok scolded, setting her down.

They made breakfast for themselves and Jun-ho and he lead them to Saki, who was the one all the villagers went to when it came to upholstery, embroidery, and furniture.

“Oh, you’d like a mattress for your home? Are you moving to Rito?” She asked warmly. When they said they were only visiting, she frowned. “How will you be bringing it back with you?”

“We can transport it.” Sae-byeok assured her. Ji-Yeong admired the work she had on display, brightly colored and intricately detailed, depicting the mountain landscape, flowers, birds circling the sun in the sky.

“Thank you. My family has done embroidery work for many generations.”

“I have only had a few lessons. My needlework is far from pretty.” Ji-Yeong sighed. “Weaving, I can do.”

“If you decide to stay in Rito after all, please come work for me.” Saki said emphatically. “I only have my two hands, and none of the children running amok show interest yet. My son will be a hunter, like his father; I’ll only see him for a few months of deep winter.”

They went to get Ji-Yeong fitted for a Snowquill set at the boutique. She opted for a light blue one, lined with white fur trim and with taupe leather for her boots and the straps to hold down the warm down-filled sections.

They trekked up into the mountains through the west, going all the way into the far reaches so Ji-Yeong could see the Leviathan skeleton in person. There were no bad storms this time but the sun reflecting off the snow was dazzling in its intensity. It was an especially taxing excursion for her, so it was with relief that she looked at heading back to the village.

“Okay! Time to surf.” Jun-ho’s breath was coming out in clouds of frost.

“Let’s see how Ji-Yeong does.” Sae-byeok took out a particularly wide shield and helped her get her feet into the loops, practicing with her on how to balance in it and explaining how it would feel to cut into the snow properly as she glided along.

“All right, you ready?” She asked eagerly.

“Yes!” Ji-Yeong waved her off, annoyed, starting on her first descent as Sae-byeok waited anxiously behind, even though they’d carefully chosen a slope where the degree was not so severe.

She winced, watching her immediately flop backwards into the snow.

They tried for a few hours but it seemed that Ji-Yeong was hopeless at shield-surfing.

“I’ll find a different physical activity to master.” She told Sae-byeok wearily, snow seeping in through her hood.

“You have done as valiant a try as anyone I’ve ever seen.” Jun-ho assured her.

Sae-byeok put Ji-Yeong on her shield and together they managed to ride back down to the trailhead.

“My brother lives there now!” Jun-ho told them, looking down from the mountain at the tiny wooden structure. A plume of smoke was rising up from a cabin that was smaller than even the groundskeeper’s cottage had been, a stack of chopped logs piled up against the outside. “He’s been able to go up into the mountains again to assist with a few search and rescues.” It was clear he was immensely relieved about this. “Let’s go say hi.”

Jun-ho knocked. “Big brother! I have a couple of friends with me.”

“Oh, Jun-ho!” In-ho stood; he’d been folding some laundry from a line strung near the fireplace. Though it was still cold, it was warmer here at the base of mountain range, and the single window of his cabin was cracked open to let in fresh air.

“Here, let me put the kettle on, get some tea for everyone.” He shuffled around. A corner of the room was jammed with barrels and crates of dried and preserved foodstuffs, spare shields, blankets, and a full-body length sled, then a narrow bed and writing desk took up most of the rest of the room. The desk was taken up with wood-working figures, a small and impressive replica of the village.

“This is Sae-byeok, she stayed with us once, and Ji-Yeong.” Jun-ho introduced them.

He nodded politely at them, but didn’t seem to recognize Sae-byeok at all.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Sae-byeok waved.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, In-ho.” Ji-Yeong said. A rare expression crossed her face, one of the ones where Sae-byeok knew she was picking up more than she’d been told—glimpses of memories or feelings. A brief coy sharpness passed through her eyes.

“This is a lovely cabin.” She said politely. “Do you stay here through the winter?”

“Oh, yes, I do. I used to live in the village with Jun-ho, as you know, but I was hired to move out here last year to keep supplies and help other Rito who return from their hunts too late in the evening to return back to the village. Sometimes they kill moose or other large game and need help carrying them the rest of the way down. Or twice now they’ve gotten too injured to surf out on their own.”

“Your models are very impressive!” She examined them, recognizing Saki’s boutique. The number of shelves inside matched exactly. “They look just like the shops I’ve seen.”

“Thank you.” He said. “I might do this cabin next.”

“And you’re quite happy here?”

“Sometimes I hear wolves howling outside, or there’s a bad storm and I get snowed in, but overall I find it…peaceful.” In-ho said. “More than I’ve found anywhere in the past few years.”

Ji-Yeong’s gaze landed on the gear resting on the fireplace mantle, shiny in spots as though it was often handled, and she went over to Sae-byeok, curling into her side. She could recall the slightly hazy memory of witnessing her first victory over the Guardian Stalker in the snowy Hebra mountains, the fear she’d had to overcome to face it, her incredible bravery driven in part to help this man who had watched his best friend die.

“I’m glad. We should all hope to find a place like that, whatever it may look like. We’re making it for ourselves too.”

“But I do think I would like to travel and see the Zora’s Domain, in the summer.” In-ho remarked. “I have heard many great things about their architecture.”

Her eyebrows rose with surprise. “Would you?” She exclaimed, delighted. “Yes, everything you’ve heard is true! They are close friends of mine, I will let them know of your potential visit.” In-ho was not like anyone she’d ever met before. Living within the village had only amplified his pain; on the outskirts, but still somewhat in contact with them while returning to his beloved mountains, seemed to be just enough for him to start healing.

—

“So what should we tell people, when they come up to see the Temple? That you’re the Queen? High Priestess?” Sae-byeok asked her curiously. They were on the road to Akkala to bother Sang-woo to brainstorm some solutions for both the Plateau and their new house. “I was just thinking about how we’d explain who we are.”

“Well, you’re Sae-byeok Kang.” Ji-Yeong said. “That was easy.”

“And you’re Ji-Yeong…Hyrule? Hylia?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Not so easy.”

“Well, I don’t have a last name.” Ji-Yeong said, blinking at her. Despite the early hour, the light was already dim inside their tent and she was growing hard to see. “Not in the same way. That’s why I’ve never answered when people have asked me. I’m just ‘of Hyrule’”. All the women in my family have been.”

“I see…” Sae-byeok trailed off. “You can just use my last name, if anyone asks you.”

Ji-Yeong beamed at her. “Sae-byeok, was that a proposal?”

Sae-byeok spluttered, but didn’t deny it.

“Well?” She was grinning wickedly now. “Ready to be my Queen consort?”

Sae-byeok wrinkled her nose. “Can’t I be your Knight consort?”

“Sure.” Ji-Yeong said loftily. “I make the rules.” She did, actually; marriages were done in the name of Hylia and the decree of the royal family even throughout the time of Calamity.

“Oh, is that so?” Sae-byeok asked, rolling on top of her to pin her down with her hips, running her hands up her sides to tickle her.

“No, Sae-byeok!” Ji-Yeong shrieked through her laughter, pushing at her. “Stop!”

“Okay, okay.” She laughed, kissing her cheek in apology.

“You’re a brute.” Ji-Yeong sniffed. She screamed again when she felt Sae-byeok’s hand creeping back into her loose summer shift and they tussled. Sae-byeok let her win, as she always did, but Ji-Yeong still groused into her collarbone as they got into their bedroll for the night.

“Don’t be so grouchy.” Sae-byeok said into her hair, drowsy, running her hand over her side, not threatening to tickle this time. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Everything suits me. I’m a goddess.” Ji-Yeong huffed, smacking a kiss on her arm when she felt a pinch on her hip. “Okay, I deserved that.”

“Let me find a nice spot.” Sae-byeok whispered after she thought she’d fallen asleep. “I’ll do it properly.”

Ji-Yeong wasn’t asleep, but didn’t let her catch on. She just smiled in the darkness of the tent and enjoyed her embrace.

—

As they crossed the Proxim Bridge again, Sae-byeok’s eyes kept trailing to the south, the great green rolling Hills of Baumer. Only a few years before, she had come stumbling down them in the middle of the night with her mother and brother, drenched and singed and shattered apart.

She pulled back on Jeju’s reins to slow her.

“I can do it now. I can face it.”

Ji-Yeong’s face was solemn. “Let’s go see it.”

They rounded over the rim of hills on foot to find what had once been the only place Sae-byeok had ever known in all of the world. It was still a deep lake in most parts, sunshine reflecting on the surface. The housing frames had collapsed but some burnt remains were sticking out like broken bones. The Guardian that had wreaked the devastation had vanished back into the Faron cliffs, though it must be destroyed now like all the rest. One could only just tell it had once been a village at all. A few more decades and to everyone besides the Kangs, it would merely be a lake.

“My house is gone.” Sae-byeok sobbed, sinking to her knees in the soft grass. Ji-Yeong sat beside her, holding her. She pointed to one of the few foundations left visible in the water, a single surviving wall jutting out above the surface. “I think that one was my neighbor’s.”

There was no need to walk down into the water, nothing here to be found and recovered. Everything had become ashes or silt.

It was quiet and still, the trees gently moving from a warm breeze. They could hear a little birdsong in the remaining trees.

The little mysterious statues on the hill opposite had survived, still watching over Deya. For that, she was grateful.

Sae-byeok leaned on Ji-Yeong to walk away back up and over the hill, weak and drained. She was too exhausted to even try to make it to the Dueling Peaks stable, lying in the sandy bank of the river as Ji-Yeong set up their camp for the night.

But at least she was able to get their fire going to make their dinner, dragging her tall body upright. The world pressed heavy on her as she cooked.

“Thank you.” She said, spooning out their rice and beef stew. “I don’t think I could have ever gone on my own. It’s hard, to know home isn’t there anymore. Is that how you feel, about the castle?”

Ji-Yeong frowned, thinking about it, moving her spoon around her bowl in a way her etiquette classes had expressly forbidden. “No, not about the castle. But about my mother.”

Sae-byeok looked at her with her eyes filled with tears, remembering at once both hiding with her in the castle’s rose garden and the icy chill of the summit of Mount Hylia, and nodded. She moved her gaze up to the cloudy sky, wondering if all their loved ones had slipped just beyond their reach up there.

—

Sae-byeok leaned out from the scaffolding constructed against the side of the Temple, where she was using up the mortar and laying out the last row of bricks for the day. “Nearly done here!” She called down to Ji-Yeong. The walls were almost finished; new clay tiles for the roof that the Gorons had gifted them were stacked in a pile by the entrance, ready to be placed in overlapping layers.

“All right!” She replied back from the nearby field, where she was working on their small garden. After their dinner, they curled up near the fireplace recently built in their living room, which had once been entirely the groundskeeper’s shed that Sae-byeok had stayed in for shelter here.

“So in two week’s time we’ll be in Lurelin, then family time in Hateno. Then where shall we go? Akkala, then back here again?”

“Yes, we’ll need to take one of Gi-hun’s carts in Hateno so that we can bring some Akkalan wood here, for the front door and window frames. Better to take more than we think we’ll need.” That was something she’d quickly learned about construction.

“I’ll be glad to be back here.” Ji-Yeong smiled at her, and Sae-byeok understood the sentiment deep in her core. She loved the road, her familiar places, and her village, but the Plateau had become theirs.

“Once we finish the doors, we might be ready to go to Gerudo, to see the glassblowing furnace construction and haul back the sand.” Sae-byeok said.

“You can see your favorite Chief.” Ji-Yeong teased, and broke down into giggles when Sae-byeok sighed. “Don’t deny your friendship!”

“I deny it!”

The Queen yelped and recoiled as she brushed a ticklish spot on her side. “Fine! Then we can visit the Zora once again for the last of the flooring tiles. The luminous stone will be so lovely.”

“And then the Rito for the curtains and other textiles. Artisans from all over the realm to make your insignia. We’ll make the windows and put up all the cloth items. And then…everything will be finished.”

They had talked about what to do when the Temple was completed. It was too grand to be kept to themselves, meant for all Hylians.

“We’ll need to open up the Plateau, so they can come.” Ji-Yeong said. “But we’ll be the only ones who live here.”

—

They criss-crossed the country, stopping at all the stables and even recognizing traveling salespeople as they too popped up in other places.

“Me, in another life.” Sae-byeok said wryly, observing them pitching their wares.

“Hm…in another life I could have been a stablehand.” Ji-Yeong mused. “You’d never escape falling desperately in love with me.”

Her Knight laughed, her eyes lighting up. “I’d shower you with gifts from the far reaches and only pay up the rupees for a bed at your stable instead of camping…just in case you were working late at the reception. Hoping you would want to talk to me.”

“I’d be desperately sad when you’d leave and cry as I groomed the horses.”

“Until one day I couldn’t bear it anymore and asked you to come with me.” Sae-byeok said. “Purely as an offer of friendship, of course.”

Mortification was dawning on Ji-Yeong’s fine features. “Oh no. Even in this other lifetime we’d still be hung up on each other for a while before we got it together, wouldn’t we?”

Sae-byeok nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid you’re exactly right, princess. But we’d get it together.”

—

“Shall we go to bed?” Sae-byeok asked her, getting up from the stable’s campfire where they’d been lingering. The other guests had gone to sleep early, worn out from their travels through the humid jungle. Coming the opposite way, from breezy Lurelin, the heaviness of the air was just staring to weigh on their skin. Sae-byeok hadn’t passed through this part of Hyrule since her journey to the Spring of Courage and wasn’t really looking forward to journeying through the climate again. “I can start setting up the tent.”

Ji-Yeong glanced up at the night sky, judging the position of the rising moon.

“No.” She said, a broad smile spreading across her face. “No, I want to show you something.”

Sae-byeok’s lips stretched to the side. “Sure.”

Ji-Yeong took her hand and led her away from the stable, towards the Floria bridge that had a wonderful sweeping view of the waterfalls spilling over the cliffs.

She pulled her over to an overlook in the middle of the long wooden bridge. The moon was full, the pale light reflecting off the lake below them and the lush greenery of the rainforest all around. This late at night, there wasn’t anyone else around.

“Look that way.” Ji-Yeong pointed up at the top of the waterfalls.

“Okay?” Sae-byeok asked, confused. She laughed, glancing down at her for a brief moment. “What are you up to?”

“Shh, just wait.” Ji-Yeong whispered. She cuddled up behind her, her arms tight around her waist and her cheek soft against her shoulder blade. “Keep watching.”

They stood for a while, listening to the incredible thundering of the waterfalls crashing into the lake.

“Now.” Ji-Yeong said, her skin starting to glow with soft golden light. “Can you see it?”

Sae-byeok saw the horn first, erupting over the falls with a blaze, before its fluorescent yellow-green body began to curl and flow over the cliffs.

She gasped, lifting a trembling hand to her mouth. A strong wind began to blow around them.

“Yes.” Her voice was choked with emotion. “I see it.”

The dragon reached the base of the falls and swirled underneath the bridge they were standing on, its body long enough that it wound up and needed to unspool, and they turned in unison to see it rising up on the other side. Little sparks of electricity flew up, crackling in the air and leaving static on their skin, just as it had from the scale she had held so long ago.

Farosh’s lower body coiled over the lake as its head vaulted up towards the other cliffs, the ones bordering the sea.

“Do you wish to follow it?” Ji-Yeong asked, sensing her muscles already twitching with the need to pursue, to explore the path it took. “Watch it go up into the sky?”

“Yes.” Sae-byeok said, still staring after the dragon, breathless. She laid a hand over hers, wrapped around her abdomen. “But only if you come along.”

“I’m with you.” Ji-Yeong promised her. “Wherever you go.”

Sae-byeok took her hand, a thrum between their palms, and off they went into the wilds.