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She doesn’t know where he’s living. She’d assumed he’d gone back to the forest but he smells like a barnyard and he’s wearing a new bracelet that is distinctly not forest on his wrist.
She hadn’t bothered to ask, had she?
The bracelet is braided leather with white and red beads woven throughout and a metal charm shaped like a horse dangles in the middle.
She notices his new boots too. They are not the soft, artistically crafted (and distinctly Kokiri) boots of woven plant fibers. These are sturdy, utilitarian leather. They are rather plain with just a hint of tooling near the top.
She wants to ask but can’t bring herself to do it.
Then one morning, he arrives with a fresh field daisy tucked carefully into his hair and she can’t resist.
“Link, I couldn’t help but notice that you look…different.”
It’s not just the clothes. He’s put on a healthy amount of weight that helps fill out his previous (dare she say almost gaunt) figure. He’s gained muscle in the arms and calves too. (No she is most definitely not looking).
He smiles at her shyly and tucks a strand of shinning golden hair behind his ear with a shrug.
“The forest must be beautiful at this time of year,” she tries again from a different angle.
He nods enthusiastically and launches into a description of all the newborn animals and the blooms exploding in the forest meadows. It’s rather telling that he doesn’t mention field daisies. They don’t grow in the forest.
It’s only much later that Zelda realizes she never actually got her answer.
She also realizes that she never actually asked.
In the end she asks Impa. The older woman gives her a long calculating stare.
“The boy is living at Lon Lon Ranch. He’s working for Mr. Talon in exchange for room and board there,” she says as Zelda huffs.
Suspecting that Impa probably knew the answer is one thing. Knowing that Impa likely had someone tailing the boy to keep tabs on him is very different. She… doesn’t know how she feels about that. About any of it.
The sheikah guard’s face is neutrally blank as she adds: “I’m told he and that little Lon girl get along quite well.”
Zelda is much too flustered and crimson in the face to notice the corners of Impa’s lips twitch up in amusement as the princess turns on her heels and leaves.