The legend of AB: Epona´s Filly, Hero´s apprentice.

“This is… impressive,” Purah mused, clearly fascinated.

She waved a pen in front of a now three-year-old Applebuck, who followed the movement with rapt attention.

The little filly’s bright emerald eyes locked on the pen without fail, her small hooves reaching out in an attempt to grab it.
Something clearly impossible, seeing as her experiment's with the deaging rune where an renaund success and now she had a 20 year old looking body, so she was much much taller than the small equine,

(Cognitive function similar to that of a Hylian child of the same age… intriguing.)

Link, with his hands resting confidently on his hips, nodded in agreement.

“A’ yup! At first, we were worried that she was a runt when she just didn’t want to grow, which might explain why she was abandoned in the first place. But now? We’re starting to suspect something else is going on.”

Purah hummed thoughtfully, her lips curling into a smile as Applebuck frowned in frustration, clearly puzzled at not being able to catch the pen.

“Well, what an intriguing case you’ve brought me, Linky~. Zoology isn’t exactly my area of expertise, but there’s nothing the Gerath Pura can’t accomplish!” Purah said dramatically, pointing the pen at the sky as if she were casting a spell.

“Shamp?” Applebuck gurgled in confusion, her innocent gaze still following the errant pen.

(Baby talk?! Intriguing… Most intriguing indeed.)

“So, what did Purah say, Link?” Zelda asked as she struggled to cut a particularly tough piece of boar meat. She gritted her teeth, her determination evident as she worked her way through it.

Link hummed thoughtfully, effortlessly chopping vegetables at speeds that would make professional chefs resign in defeat.

“She said she’d look into it, but you know Purah. We probably won’t hear back from her until she has something solid… or until she needs a favor.”

“True.” Zelda sighed, knowing her old friend all too well. “But… that’s all?”

“Yeah, why?” Link asked, glancing up.

“No reason!” Zelda quickly responded, her tone a little too hasty and… flustered? Her cheeks were pink, and she focused entirely on her plate, avoiding eye contact.

Link raised an eyebrow, a knowing glint in his eye as he studied her. She was hiding her face, but the tips of her ears were flushed crimson.

He shrugged nonchalantly, but inwardly, his mind raced. He debated whether or not to speak his mind, but in the end, he decided to address it directly.

“I know you think I’m a fool when it comes to this stuff, Princess, and I’ll admit, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.” His sudden declaration caused Zelda to freeze, her eyes widening as her heart skipped a beat.

Did he know? How?! She and Purah had been so careful!

“… but it’s obvious that…” Link paused, giving her a teasing smile.

Oh, Hylia, who was she trying to fool? Of course he knew! He was Link—the man who solved ancient, life-threatening puzzles like they were children’s games!

“You and Purah have been at it, haven’t you?”

“Yeh—wait, what?!” Zelda exclaimed, spinning around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. Her wide eyes darted to Link, who simply raised an amused eyebrow.

Link returned to stirring his stew with an air of casual amusement, completely unfazed by her sudden outburst. Meanwhile, Zelda’s face was quickly becoming a blazing shade of red.

“Come on, Princess,” Link continued with a chuckle. “You honestly think I wouldn’t notice? The late-night escapes? The way you come home all sweet and red-faced? The goofy grin you try to hide? C’mon, Zel, you should know me better by now.”

Zelda tried to argue, her words coming out as a garbled mess of incoherent babble.

Then she blinked rapidly, her cheeks still flushed but her mind quickly regaining its composure. She straightened her posture, wiping her hands on her apron as if to steady herself.

“Alright, Link,” she said, her voice now laced with a touch of her usual confidence, though still carrying a hint of red in her cheeks. “You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?”

Link, thoroughly entertained, flashed her a grin but didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he added a few more chopped carrots to his stew, deliberately taking his time.

Zelda took a deep breath, her hands now gripping the edge of the table as she gave him a pointed look. “You might think you know, but you don’t know everything, Link.”

“Oh?” he asked, not looking up, clearly enjoying the teasing.

“Exactly,” she shot back, now smiling slyly. “For all your cleverness, you might not have noticed the most important detail.”

Link raised an eyebrow at her words, his interest piqued. Zelda stepped closer, her eyes locking with his.

“I didn’t just ‘suddenly’ develop a goofy grin or come home red-faced, Link,” she said with a small smirk. “It’s called living a little, something you might want to try sometime, instead of waiting around to solve puzzles and save the world.”

Link gave her a playful look. “Are you saying I’ve been too busy saving Hyrule to notice a few things?”

Zelda’s smirk widened. “Perhaps. But I’m glad you’ve finally caught on. At least you’re not completely oblivious, for once.”

Link chuckled, now fully enjoying the playful banter. He finally gave her a wink. “Alright, princess. You’ve got me there.”

Zelda’s posture relaxed, and her cheeks, while still pink, no longer betrayed any embarrassment. She reached over to continue cutting the boar meat, clearly in much better spirits.

“Good,” she said with satisfaction. “And while we’re at it, I think we’ll need more potatoes in this stew. Don’t want you getting too distracted by a certain other puzzle, do we?”

Link laughed again, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Fair enough. I’ll leave the cooking to you, then.”

Then he proceeded to exit the house he's hands is till in the air.

The minute the hise door closed the princess shoulders slumped and let herself fall into a chair.

(That was...).-She honestly didn't have idea.

(I mean, I can see why... he would think that, but...).- Her mind raced into... paths.

She shook her self determined to simply let the notion die...

If only her mind let it be so.