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After the battle, Zelda carries him back to the surface. Link watches her fly away again in a shimmer of light until his eyes burn, until she is nothing but a speck on the horizon. He had hoped for a miracle at the end and though he waits and waits, one does not come. She is gone and he is left behind.
With Ganondorf defeated, the dark malice that haunted Hyrule is banished and the world is safe once again. At long last, the duty entrusted to him by the princess is complete. Now Link is on his own, to live his life as he will. He already knows what he will do, even if he doesn't have the words to say it aloud. The thought has been with him for a long time, formless and unspoken. At first, it had simply been a dream, come to him in the strange space between awake and asleep — a sensation, not of falling, but of flying by her side. Now it is simply what he wants, more than anything he has ever wanted.
His friends would be concerned if they knew; perhaps they would even try to convince him otherwise. In the end, the only one he tells is Impa. She takes his hands in hers, tears welling up, and simply thanks him. Of course, she would understand without him having to explain it; she saw the tears the princess shed the same as he did.
And so, before Mineru passes on, Link asks her. She looks at him with solemn understanding; she does not ask if he is sure. "Rauru and Sonia were the same," she reveals at last, "they never could bear to be apart."
Afterwards, Link goes to the Temple of Time. It's the place where he goes when the weariness catches up with him, when the weight of all he carries is almost too much. The night he saw Zelda's transformation, he had come here and waited all through the night for just a glimpse of her. This time he goes to the altar, not with weariness or longing, but with determination.
He could stay. There's work to be done, there are battles to be fought, and there will always be a need for a hero. But right now, Zelda is alone. She flew alone in the skies for thousands of years; she fought alone in the darkness for a hundred years before that. Link can't bear the thought of leaving her alone for even one more day. His place is by her side, as it has always been; if Zelda cannot return to who she was, then Link will join her.
Dawn crests over the horizon and like a dream, she rises from the clouds, her golden hair catching the morning sun. Link watches her circle upward to reach the platform where he stands. Their eyes meet and she waits, hovering in the air before him without effort, like she never has before, like she knows.
The secret stone Mineru left with him sits warm in his palm. Link brings it to his lips. For a moment, there is no sound. Suddenly, the stone begins to hum inside him, a resonant tone that makes his blood sing. The feeling grows stronger and stronger until it finally overflows; Link lets himself be carried away by it. Scales of emerald green erupt over his skin. His hands and feet bend into curved talons. Horns of gold emerge from his head. He feels magnified as his skin, bones, and limbs stretch beyond their limit, growing light enough to lift into the sky. Despite the pain of it, Link doesn't feel afraid. He feels Zelda's presence like a guiding star, drawing him home; he hears her voice, calling for him.
Link.
As always, he answers.
With a cry of elation, Link launches into the sky, the wind whipping fast against his scales. Without hesitation, Zelda is right there alongside him. The sensation of flying by her side is just as exhilarating as he dreamed. They mirror one another in their flight, going ever upward until it feels like they might pierce the sky itself. Finally, high above the realm, they curl closer until their faces brush, warm as a loving embrace. Through new eyes, Link sees the tears fall from Zelda’s eyes — only this time of happiness, not despair.
-
In the skies above Hyrule, the dragons make their eternal flight: Dinraal to the north, Naydra to the east, and Farosh to the south. And high above them all, a pair of dragons fly so close they are often mistaken as one. Sometimes they can be seen racing around the realm. Other times they appear to dance around one another, playful as colts.
People who see the coiling braid of their forms in the skies take it as a symbol of infinite love and hope. It gives rise to a Hyrulean custom of couples exchanging braided cord bracelets of green and white on their wedding day. When Hyrule Castle is finally rebuilt, a stained glass window depicting the dragons' flight sits in the Sanctum. Every dawn, the morning light shines through it, filling the chamber with warmth and colour — a gift from the Sheikah tribe.
Myths and legends abound about the dragons: perhaps they are lovers, or perhaps they were once a single dragon that was split in twain. In the end, only one thing is for certain: where one flies, the other is sure to be near… and neither will ever be alone again.
