Archive of Our Own ^beta

being the heiress of a company’s a heavy burden for a twenty-one-year-old, and zelda is reminded of her responsibilities every. single. day. today is no exception.

“we’re just not hitting the same numbers as we used to,” her father sighs. he’s the current ceo, but when he decides that she’s ready, he'll pass that position to her. she knows that all too well. “that needs to change soon. any ideas?”

the conference room, filled with a multitude of board members, shuffle and murmur amongst themselves, looking to appear as if they’re in deep thought rather than actual performing the act. her father is a bit scary, and even if you’ve got nothing, it’s better to pretend that you do.

zelda crosses her arms. she’s been to these meetings since she was seventeen, and she finds them particularly boring. it’s cliche, isn’t it? the next question is what she does find fun — but truthfully, she isn’t sure yet…or rather, she was never given the chance to find out.

but she knows that they’ll throw out the same ideas — “open up a new subsidiary”, “launch a collab”, “push a new concept for our artists”. some stick, some don’t. a lot of the people in these meetings are stuck in their old ways.

she doesn’t want to be. she knows the company would thrive if they just did something different. but she hasn’t said that out loud before, and she’s not any better than these board members; she never states her opinion during these times.

her father would reprimand her, tell her that she should be observing how everything works so she knows how to run the company when she’s in charge. but how is she to run it successfully if she can’t at least practice? it doesn’t make sense. her father’s stuck in his old ways, too.

she excuses herself with the premise of going to the bathroom, and her father just gives her a nod. she walks out of the conference room and into the lounge on their current floor, plopping down on a chair with a heavy sigh. she just needed a moment to herself.

…but of course she can’t.

“zelda! how’s it going?”

she recognizes that voice right away. a smile immediately shows up on zelda’s lips as she turns around to greet impa, purah just right behind her.

these two are the shining jewel of hyrule entertainment, having been in the music industry since they were fourteen. their songs never fail to hit number one; their album sales never disappoint; and they’ve broken too many records to count. they’re five or so years her elder, but they show no signs of slowing down. if anything, they’re the ones keeping the company afloat.

“aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting?” purah asks, shaking her head in a teasing manner when zelda nods. “there’s no good in skipping!”

“i didn’t skip,” zelda says with a pout.

“yeah, i know you wouldn’t.” purah gives her a sympathetic smile, and that’s the end of that. she knows why zelda makes these little escapes.

with nothing else to say, their attention turns to the tv on the wall. it’s playing the news — they’re something about virtual pets called ‘koroks’. she’s about to get up and leave when the anchors move on to their next segment.

“singer link has decided not to renew his contract with zora entertainment after seven years with them, five of them being the leader of the group ‘champions’. their ceo dorephan says that they are on good terms and that his departure ‘is because he wants to find a new adventure’, he states. link, who is known for his minimal presence on social media, posted something on instagram for the first time in six months about it, saying, ‘onto the next thing’. on the other hand, revali and daruk have both renewed their contracts for another five years, and have stated that they will continue to make music under the ‘champions’ name, but state that ‘if link wants to meet up and release something together, we are not opposed to it’. starting today, link is a free agent, and many are wondering if he’ll stay independent or sign somewhere else.”

“oh wow, he’s a pretty big name. i’m sure plenty of eyes are watching what he’s going to do next.”

“yes. we’ll keep you all updated on this as it progresses, though there’s no knowing when any news will spring up.”

“well would you look at that.” purah’s eyes are fixated on the tv screen even as the anchors continue to whatever they had lined up after. “he’s giving up all that fame and fortune. he’s got to have a plan, right?”

“he’s too aloof to tell,” impa huffs. “you know that. we’ve met him multiple times. maybe he’s got a big ego and thinks he can do better. maybe he is going solo. maybe he’s done. who knows?”

being the in entertainment industry, of course zelda knows who link is, but she knows the company he just left even more. zora entertainment has an heiress of their own — mipha, who started managing his group when she was just seventeen. they went to the same schools growing up, even going as far as attending the same college. they weren’t…enemies, but they aren’t best friends, either. their fathers don’t hold any animosity against one another, but they are rivals.

…so how fucked up would it be if she got link to sign to hyrule entertainment?

unlike impa and purah, she’s only ever seen link in shows or videos. she knows he’s a big deal, though. a really big deal. the very idea of him is so immense that she somehow…can’t stand it. a guy as popular as him has to have a big head, right? she hates that.

but again, if she can somehow convince him to sign to her company…it would be something different for sure, a very big advantage for hyrule entertainment. maybe then her father will let her be more hands-on with running the company. maybe she’ll actually enjoy being an heiress for once.

in any case, it’s too good of an opportunity. she has to do something.

“i should head back,” zelda says, getting up and turning to the duo. “i’ve been gone a suspiciously long time now. but the plus side is that i got an idea.”

zelda manages to scope out link around an incredibly popular cafe. even someone as big as him can’t resist an iced americano from this place, she muses to herself.

coming up with the idea to have him sign to her company is one thing, but actually doing it is another. she can’t just call his old company to ask about him — too weird. asking through social media is just bad practice, and does he even check his notifications? and she’s against asking some weirdo who somehow managed to find out his phone number for it in exchange for money. it’s just gross.

he sits at a table, and luckily for her, it’s the only table with an open seat left. she grabs her coffee as quickly as possible and grabs that seat before anyone else.

he’s…got broad shoulders. wow, he’s actually strong-looking? focus, zelda. of course. he was in a group that sings and dances. it makes sense. but it’s…anyway. “do you mind if i sit here?” before he even answers, she’s already in the chair. “it’s my first time seeing you here. do you go here often?”

link looks up from the book he was reading, staring at her with the most…neutral face she’s ever seen. nothing is slipping in his expressions, his mouth, his eyes. she can’t read him. she pouts.

“sorry. weird question.” maybe she just made it weird. she’s about to pull up her phone and try not to sweat in nervousness when the cover of the book catches her eye. “‘pride and prejudice’? i didn’t know you were an austen fan.”

“…i just like the movie.”

his voice is…deeper in person. “the movie?”

“the 2005 one.”

“…sorry, i’ve never seen it.” she looks down on her phone, quickly typing it into her browser. “oh. hm. i’ve read that book so many times, but i never knew this movie existed.”

“it’s good.”

“is it?”

link nods, and then goes back to reading. she’s confused — she wasn’t done speaking to him, but she guesses he was done speaking to her. she lets him have the silence for a bit as she bookmarks the movie to watch later. she loves austen, so why hasn’t she seen this version? the 1995 one, sure, but…well, maybe it’s around the time when she had to start learning about the do’s and don’t’s of running a company. your time gets pretty limited when you start doing that.

he’s a man of little words, isn’t he? so this is what impa meant by ‘too aloof’. of course, on stage, he doesn’t come off that way — not too much, anyway. even in interviews and vlogs and other stuff that she watched through in an attempt to get to know him better after coming up with her plan, he’s got some of his standoff-ish qualities, but it isn’t as unpalatable as it is now. in media, it’s seen as a quirk; in person, it’s a little off-putting.

mipha must have rose-colored glasses to think so highly of link. the few times mipha’s mentioned link to zelda, it’s always with praise. she doesn’t see it.

she sees link dog-ear the corner of the page he was on. she winces — it’s such an odd pet peeve, but a pet peeve nonetheless. this is also the perfect opportunity. she shuffles through her bag until she takes out her dad’s business card that she keeps handy and hands it over to him. “don’t ruin your book. use this as a bookmark.”

he takes it, his mouth opening slightly as if to say something, but she gets up and leaves before she can hear it. he has no choice but to take that hyrule entertainment business card now.

she’s more than surprised when she sees link in the lobby of the company building a few days later.

“wh — what are you doing here?”

“are you…rhoam?”

“no.” she raises an eyebrow. did she get him? “are you looking for him here?”

“i’m not.” uh-oh. so is he mad about the business card? he gives no impression of such kind, but maybe he’s the silent anger type. that’s pretty scary.

“then…?”

he tilts his head.

“then why are you here?”

link holds up the business card from before.

“…you’re really not making this easy.” she says that before she can even process what she just said in front of link. how blunt of her!

she guesses it’s because he doesn’t have as much as a looming presence the way he is now, blonde hair slightly disheveled and looking like he just rolled out of bed. did he? and to go all the way here? should she be flattered or concerned?

their encounter at the cafe the other day had him in more fashionable garb, like if someone were to take a picture of him, it would seem like he was prepared for a photo shoot. not today. he was dressed in the most casual clothes possible — somehow, it was impossible to be as careful as she was at the cafe. why did her guard lower?

and still, why was he here?

“why are you here?” she repeated.

“i thought i would find you here.” he finally says. “and i did. the movie. it’s playing at a park tonight.”

…huh?

“you mean…the one you mentioned at the cafe?”

link nods.

“okay. thanks?”

“do you want to watch it?”

her heart stops at that. so he can meander around everything else but just casually blurt that out? “yeah, i guess i will when i’m done for today…actually.” no. think for a second, zelda. it’ll be awkward, but worth it in the long run. “do you mean with you?”

link pauses for a second. “…yeah, i guess that what i meant.”

“you guess?” she shakes her head. she’ll take what she can get. “alright. what time? what park?”

“seven. at kakariko.”

“okay. then i’ll see you there.”

he doesn’t say anything else — he just turns around and walks out the door.

zelda muses that it’s probably too sudden to sign to a new company just yet — he just got out of his last one a few days ago. still, how amazing would it have been if he was actually there to sign a new contract! that would put an end to her plan immediately. she wouldn’t have to do…god, what is she doing? why is she watching a movie with him?

the park had set up a large screen for the movie, with blankets on the floor for people to sit at. she sits at one, seven o’clock on the dot, and there’s no sign of link. she grins at herself in amusement — what, did he decide to ghost her? she wouldn’t put it past him…but also, it seems a little mean to do that. he remembered that she hadn’t watched this movie. he thought of her when he saw this event. where did he even see this event? she hadn’t seen flyers or anything online about it. the only time she would ever see it is the sign they put in front of the park’s entrance about it, but she rarely goes to the park in the first place. too little time.

so…does he just walk around parks? must be nice. still no sign of him, but the movie’s running a little late anyway — technical issues or something. that’s fine. she can wait. her mind wanders back to him. i wonder what he does around here besides walking. does he read here, too?

…alright, the analysis is getting a little weird, although she’d be lying if she didn’t say that she wanted to get to know him just a little bit. perhaps the cafe was the worst first encounter with him. the one in the lobby was more pleasurable. she could tolerate him. he didn’t have that much of a persona as before. why the sudden change — but who changed anyway? him or her?

seven ten. no movie still. no link, either —

“oh — what the fuck!” zelda’s heart leaps out of her chest as someone in all black clothes sits next to her. it’s only when this person turns their head towards her and she sees that familiar face that she realizes who just decided to randomly show up. “oh, jeez, it’s you. you can’t even say hello? i thought you were going to rob me or something.”

“hi,” link says.

“hi.”

silence.

“did you get stuck in traffic or something?”

“no, i walked here, but i got distracted.”

so he does just take random walks to the park — what did he mean by ‘distracted’? “by what?”

he doesn’t answer, but he does look at the bucket of popcorn she had by her side. “can i have some?”

“…sure.”

the movie finally rolls, and what follows was the most beautiful 127 minutes of her life. the cinematography — flawless. the acting — perhaps this was the peak of everybody’s careers. the music — majestic. and the story that she knows so well was just made so beautifully that she couldn’t help but cry at the end.

she gets up quickly and bids link farewell so that he doesn’t see the monstrous tears rolling down her face. it’s night now, and it’s pretty dark, so it’s easy to hide. she sniffles, rubbing her eyes against her better judgement just to get rid of those emotions easier. for some reason, link follows suit.

she wonders if he’ll veer off the path and say, “well i’m heading back home, see you”, but he follows her for quite a bit, almost to the point where she wonders if he intends to follow her…no, why would he? she’s fine on her own. his steps start getting more and more aggravating.

“are you following me home?” she finally asks, whipping around to face him. “don’t you have to go home?”

he stops right in his tracks. “i wanted to make sure you got there safely.”

she sniffs. “i can get home just fine, thank you.”

“…i still want to make sure.”

“you look like a creep following me from behind.”

link blinks before he takes a few steps forward until he’s next to her. he doesn’t say anything, but for the first time, she can see what he’s asking for in his eyes — if this was okay, if this was comfortable now.

truthfully, not so much — he’s closer, and that makes zelda’s face warm up a little. still, she’s not getting rid of him, which is odd. why does he insist on making sure she makes it home safely? (what about him? — he’ll be fine, surely.)

and she does. it’s a safe trip, but it’s uncomfortable, because when she closes the door to her house and lies down in her bed, she wonders why she’s so bothered by him and his actions.

she spends more time with him, talking about books, about movies, about so many things. he’s a normal guy. he’s funny, actually. he’s pretty kind, too. she’s slowly peeled away all the layers that she’s forgotten that link is a celebrity.

she’s waiting at the cafe where they met, sitting at a table and swinging her feet around while she waits for link. they’re just hanging out. are they friends? you could…say that. she isn’t sure. she definitely scolds herself for forgetting her plan sometimes, but when they really get into their conversations, she just…loses track of it. she doesn’t care about it. she just wants to talk to him.

she sees link outside one of the windows, and a smile creeps on her face — and then it disappears when a crowd of fans surround him, and he’s taken back. there’s phones shoved in his face and it’s clear that he’s struggling to juggle it all. it’s actually…hard to watch. five years in the public eye and he still isn’t used to it? was he ever used to it at all?

but something stirs in zelda, and before she knows it she’s up and walking into the crowd, parting it until she gets to link. many of the fans groan and ask who she thinks she is — but she can’t just bluntly say the heiress of hyrule entertainment. who would believe that? ceo’s children are not well-known unless you run in those circles.

so who was she?

“who do you think you are?” one of them asks.

“i’m his bodyguard,” she huffs. “and i think it’s time you all leave him alone.”

for some reason, her tone is enough to dissipate the crowd. of course they’re displeased, but they leave nonetheless. when it’s all clear, link sighs — in relief. “thank you, zelda.”

“you’re pretty clumsy.” zelda can’t help but feel a little sympathetic. “honestly, i hang out with you so much now that i forget you’re a celebrity.”

“hm.”

“what?”

“nothing.”

link had told zelda that he wanted to see what she did during her free time — ha, as if i have any!

she did before…and that was taking care of the garden in front of her house. “my dad had the basic plans, of course,” she tells him, “but the flowers were my idea.”

she gestures to all of them, grinning from ear to ear. she hadn’t talked about these flowers in forever. it’s been way too long. if she thought about it more, she would say that she misses them. they’re so beautiful, so delicate — she’s sad that, in a way, she’s abandoned them.

she shoves the watering can in her hand at link. “water the flowers on the side, but not too much. count for three seconds before moving on. those ones don’t need as much water as the ones here. i’ll take care of them.”

he silently obliges — he doesn’t say much still, but…his actions are more understandable. all this time spent with him had made him easier to understand, that’s for sure. she gets his gestures, his looks, his actions. she still doesn’t get his feelings — but that’s not important. nope.

zelda truly doesn’t mind his presence anymore. he’s really grown on her. in fact, when he’s gone, she feels…lonely. like she can’t stand it when he’s not next to her. that’s not fair to him, though. who knows how he feels. she doesn’t, and the more days that pass by when she doesn’t have a clue, the more she just…

“why is this one all alone?”

his voice centers her again. she goes over to him, looking at the flower he was pointing at. “that’s the silent princess. that one…well, that one’s hard to grow domestically. i’m lucky i even have that one at all! i’ve worked so hard to keep that one alive at least, but for a whole field of them…well, you’ll just have to go out into the wild to see them.”

“i see.” link just nods. before, zelda would think he didn’t take in all of that — but now, she knows that nod is confirmation that he did. it makes her laugh a little, because what use is that knowledge unless he plans to grow some of his own?

“have you seen them?” he asks.

“seen what?”

“these flowers out in the wild?”

she sighs. “no…not enough time. i’ve seen pictures, though.”

“that’s not the same thing.” his voice hints at disappointment, and it surprises her. why is that? 

“it’s the best that i can get, unfortunately.” zelda shrugs, and she puts on a smile to move on from the somewhat gloomy mood looming over them. “but i’m glad there’s pictures that exist of them, you know!”

“still not the same.”

“alright.” she rolls her eyes. “well, to be fair, we live in a city. it’s hard to come by. let me know when you find a field of them close by.”

she meant that as a joke, but he doesn’t say anything back. she doesn’t know how to help the awkwardness of their situation now, though. the best she can do is mimic him — say nothing, and continue doing what you’re doing. 

but she doesn’t like that. now she wants to remedy the silence, to make sure that they’re on the same page, because sometimes, they truly aren’t, and it frustrates her. she wants to see eye-to-eye with him, but she struggles with doing so. maybe it’s because she was always a level above everyone else, but with link…he’s above her. how does she drag him down to her?

why the hell do you want to do that anyway? she scolds herself. is that even fair? why has she thought about it more and more, though? is she even allowed to?

there’s too many things swirling in her head that she doesn’t like it. she never felt like this before.

“oh, zelda, you’re home.”

her father’s voice comes from behind, and the two of them turn their heads toward him. “oh, and link. i didn’t think i’d see you at my house.”

“you’re…”

“…rhoam, ceo of hyrule entertainment.” zelda’s father heads closer to her, hands on his hips. “now how did you get my daughter to convince you to help her with this garden? is it because she told you she hasn’t kept up with it in forever?”

“daughter?”

“yeah, my daughter, zelda.”

link blinks at her. “i thought you just…worked at the company.”

…oh.

right. giving her dad’s business card would probably lead him to believe that she was just an employee there, not the literal daughter of the ceo. this is even more awkward. uh oh. yeah, she’s in quite the pickle.

the implications are…well, if you think about it, pretty bad, but her dad just makes it worse. “oh no, she’s going to run it someday! isn’t that great? she’d make a good ceo, don’t you think?”

link says nothing. zelda doesn’t say anything, either.

but that doesn’t stop her dad. “in fact, she’s been trying to get you to join, actually. have you thought about it?”

link looks at zelda. she can’t help but just stare back. that’s enough for him to put down the watering can and clear his throat. “a little. i should get going, though.”

zelda just watches him walk away. she doesn’t want to chase after him.

“that’s good news! a little is better than none!” her dad pats her on the back. “good job, zelda.”

yep, great.

link doesn’t text her, and she doesn’t text him. she feels like it’s wrong to.

that conversation was just awful. of course he’d feel like she just used him, that becoming friends was just for her convenience and for the company’s benefit and that everything was inauthentic.

it’s not wrong, though. it was true in the beginning, but her feelings had gone through such a change that she can’t help but feel like absolute shit at the state of their relationship now.

because she does want to be with him with no strings attached, but that’s too much to ask now. she doesn’t blame him if he doesn’t want to talk to her again.

but she so selfishly wants him to.

“jeez, what are you moping around for, zelda?” purah sits next to her on her right, and impa sits to her left. note to self — don’t mope in the company lounge.

“i’m not moping.”

“you have the aura of someone moping about a crush or something.” impa says.

“i’m not moping, and it’s not about a crush, thank you.”

“so what are you doing?”

“skipping a meeting.”

“there’s no meeting today.”

“…right.” zelda sighs. “if you became friends with someone because you had an ulterior motive but you realize that you don’t care about the ulterior motive anymore and you just want to be friends but that person found out about your ulterior motive and it’s kind of shitty and they drop contact with you what would you do?”

“okay…” purah raises an eyebrow at impa, who just shrugs. “do we get to know who this friend is?”

“no.”

“this makes advice a little harder to give, you know.”

“absolutely not.”

“oh, zelda.” impa shakes her head. “well, you’ve got to be patient.”

zelda groans. “ugh, i know!”

“so why did you ask?”

“i thought you might say, ‘go talk to him’ or something.”

“so it’s a guy…” the two elders laugh. “okay, well, you could do that, too.”

“so which is it?”

“whichever works for this guy,” purah says. “that’s for you to decide.”

zelda sends link a pair of coordinates. ‘you don’t have to, but i want to talk to you. meet me here tomorrow morning,’ she said. no reply for him. that’s fine. this is a matter she has to take into her own hands.

she stands in a field of silent princesses. turns out a bunch of them were pretty close by — a good thirty minute walk from the edge of the city. they’re absolutely gorgeous, something she can’t take her eyes off of. they’re thriving out in the wild. she’s proud of them.

she fully didn’t expect link to show up, but she’s surprised when she sees his figure out in the distance, growing bigger and bigger as he closes in until he’s face to face with her.

zelda lets out of a sigh of relief. “you came.”

“yeah.” oh, how she missed him, but she doesn’t say it out loud.

“look…i’m sorry. when i first talked to you i was trying to get you to sign with the company, but the more we hung out, the more i…” zelda trails off. she thought she had this all composed in her head, but the more he just looks at her, stares at her, observes her…the more she just loses her train of thought. he’s just staring so intensely, but…he’s listening. she knows that with just a quick glimpse at his face. that’s enough for her to gather up the pieces and try to continue. “the more i forgot about that and the more i just hung out with you because you’re you, and i wanted to get to know you. so…i don’t care if you actually sign or not, but i still want to have you by my side, if you’re okay with it. i actually like having you around and not talking to you for days was killing me.”

“oh, that’s because…” link…cracks a smile. it’s one she hasn’t seen before, one that’s teasing her. “i was signing stuff.”

she raises an eyebrow. “oh? what kind of stuff?”

“to hyrule entertainment.”

she almost faints. “you mean — ?”

“i’m not dumb, you know.” he smiling too wide now — it’s so cute, but she doesn’t have time to process that. “even if i thought you were just an employee, i knew something was up. but i didn’t mind it because i had fun hanging out with you. but to know you were his daughter…”

“yeah, about that…”

“well, now that i’m signed to your company, i’ll be seeing you more of you.”

“i guess so.”

“i’m okay with that.”

“you’re — sorry, what?”

“i said i’m okay with that.”

“so…”

“yeah.” he gives her a care-free shrug. “you could say i’m okay being by your side.”

that makes zelda’s heart leap for joy, but there’s something nagging her — can that mean something more?

she leaps and gives him a kiss, and thank god he returns it.