We all are animals anyway

ZELDA'S POV

The Princess enters her room and starts undressing.

Well, the ride from the ranch to the castle was… uneventful. Link remained quiet and didn't even attempt to start a conversation with me.

Once naked, she entered her bathroom shower.

All right, I clean myself, I put on a nightgown, and I head to hell with my cellphone, because I need to check on my brothers. I just hope they are ok… I should also take the books I gathered yesterday.

Once done bathing, Zelda dries herself as fast as she could, put on her nightgown, grabs the books and cellphone and left her room. As she was approaching Link's room, Chacha was coming out of it.

This… is not good. But oh well, I had to face her eventually, I just have to remember to stay calm.

"Nice evening Chacha" Zelda chimes.

"Nice evening Princess… I wanted a word with you. Are you sleeping on Link's bed?" Chacha asks avoiding eye gaze.

And there she is… bold as ever. But I am the Princess and I am not weak, I can't back down now.

Zelda inhales deeply "Yes, I am. Why?"

Chaha's eyes widen at the Princess response "I thought the Prince was joking… This is improper behavior my Princess" Chacha says in a judgmental tone.

Zelda grunts a little "Improper behavior would be to bed him and I am not doing that, we are just sharing sleeping space to rid me of my nightmares" sighs heavily "not getting enough sleep endangers my health, making me spend money on medicine… MY PEOPLE'S MONEY. Taking care of myself is taking care of my people"

Wow, sounds like bullshit but it does make a lot of sense.

Chacha sighs loudly "That kind of makes sense in a twisted way… I am guessing I am not supposed to speak about this arrangement with anybody, right?"

"I would be grateful if you keep this a secret from EVERYONE… that includes Nana" Zelda warns the maid.

Chacha smirks "That is a BIG ask you know… but I would consider it if you were to offer me something for it"

Zelda stares at her in shock but recovers quickly "What do you want? I currently don't have a lot of economic resources, but if it's expensive I will see how to get it"

The maid offers a timid smile "It's expensive for someone like me, but not for you… I want a flying squirrel"

"You… want a pet? Do you even have time to care for one?" the Princess asks.

Chacha claps her hands quickly a few times "That is the amazing part, they are nocturnal, I can keep it all day with me, it will be sleeping inside my garments, and at night when it wakes up, I feed it and we play. Its perfect for me"

Zelda smiles at Chacha's excitement "It does sound perfect… I will get you one"

"And I will bring another chest tomorrow, one that you can use to hide your pillow, in case someone that is no me enters" Chacha winks and leaves skipping happily.

That… was easier than expected.

Zelda enters Link's room without even knocking, and sits on the bed.

Link grunts "I was kind of hoping you would back down on sleeping here" he says walking around his room.

"I am not a quitter. By the way, I just talked with Chacha, she now knows of our sleeping arrangement… so I had to bribe her"

Link suddenly stops walking and turns to look at the Princess "WAIT, YOU DID WHAT? I thought I was already doing that, what did she ask of you?"

Zelda squints her eyes "A flying squirrel, what did she asked of YOU?"

The Prince chuckles "A big cage with a hammock for her pet" Link growl and Zelda starts to giggle.

"This BITCH already knew… and planned on how to take advantage of it" Link said angry.

She may have, but it somehow makes me happy.

"Don't be angry at her, what she asked for is not that expensive. Besides… I think she never planned to tell on us, this is just her evil side seeking profit"

Link rolls his eyes "I am not angry at her; I am actually proud. And I ABHOR you for making me admit it out loud" he points at Zelda accusingly. 

RING!!! RING!!!

Link quickly answers his cellphone "Hey there, what happened?"

LINK POV

Robert sighs "I need you to talk to Zid, SWORD wants to give him papers, birth certificate, SSN and so on. But he refuses to take any name. It has to be Zid… because you and Zelda gave him that name."

He is holding on that name because of US?

*Can you blame him? he was completely alone for years, then he had you, Li and the Princess. He is clinging to the memory of a family... HIS FAMILY*

Li exhales and continues "I told him that his name doesn't exist, but the name ¨Sid¨ with and S does, and it sounds very similar… He started a tantrum. Apparently, his name is special because it starts with a Z, like Zelda and Ziel. Do you know how scary a tantrum from an overgrown monkey is?" Robert asked chuckling.

I do not, but I can imagine. Damn… how to I solve this? I don't want to speak to him, he may break and I am not good dealing with tears.

Then a sports announcer scream is heard GGGGOOOOOLLLLL!!! Robert immediately lowers the TV volume.

"Sorry about that, I just turned down the volume" Robert says holding the remote.

Robert appears to be watching a soccer game, I never understood why they call it soccer instead of football. It's the logical name given that is played with a ball and your feet. While in American football you mainly use your hands… WAIT!

"I FUCKING KNOW WHAT TO DO. Name him Zidane like the French trainer of the Real Madrid."

"Dude, Zidane is the trainer's last name"

"But IT IS a name in Jamaica I think" Link parts from his cellphone a little and speaks to the Princess "Search Zidane as a name in your cellphone please, Z.I.D.A.N.E."

Zelda immediately types it and sure enough, it was a boy's name from Arabia and Jamaica. She shows Link her screen.

"It's an Arab and Jamaican name, and we can still call him Zid. The name definitely has mine and Zelda's approval"

"Ha, I will tell him and then we talk with the General. Zidane… I am digging it, I think he will love it too, but I will let you know" Robert hangs the call.

Link smiles before the Princess taps on his shoulder.

"Zidane has my approval apparently, but for what?" the Princess asks.

"To be the name of your monkey brother" Link answers.

Zelda's eyes go wide and she starts to smiles.

"Zidane… Zid… I love it. What about the last name?"

Link sighs looking up at the celling "I don't know, SWORD will choose one at random…" Zelda looks at him distressed by the idea.

Ziel frowns "That is not good enough, is it?... How about Nash to keep it green?"

"What do you mean by ¨keep it green¨?" the Princess inquires.

"Li, Robert's last name, means plumb tree. The last name I use in the quantum world is Saller, which means sallow tree. Nash means ash tree"

Zelda smiles joyful "SOUNDS PERFECT, I WILL TELL THEM RIGHT AWAY" Zelda says as she starts typing on her cellphone. "Just so you know… I will be referring to you as Saller from time to time"

Link glares at her with distress, then his mood quickly shifts "Tsk, tsk... Princess, I am already disturbed; do you want to upgrade my mental status to psychotic?"

Zelda pales a little "Wait... would that happen just for calling you Saller?"

"Not only is my voice multiple, I possess multiple names. Saller, Nohansen, Raziel, Kid, and Link... all of them are fragments of me, yet all of them play a different role" Link sighs and starts to chuckle "So, you want to cause me D.I.D. on top of my already diagnosed Schizophrenia... that brings me a step closer to becoming psychotic don't you think?" Link asks tilting his head and smirking.

The Hero just expressed himself with a transparency that frightened Zelda a little. If he really is a schizophrenic, mixing that with dissociative identity disorder meant he is not safe to be around... Yet she refused to dismiss all the moments they have shared so far. Moments where she felt safe despite the situation, where she had grown as a woman and as a ruler... and every time she had been carefully guided by him. She arrived to the conclusion that Link was unstable, maybe even very dangerous, but also someone she could trust with her life.

Zelda sighs and stares at him directly in the eyes "We both know that your mind is not as fragile, if it were, you would have broken a long time ago due to the torment you were put through, not because of me" the Princess deviates her gaze suddenly ashamed "I am not trying harm you in any way; I was just having fun at your expense" she admits.

They both go quiet after that. Zelda not knowing what else to say, and Link not sure if to believe what just happened.

I just basically confessed to her that I am mentally ill. Didn't go into details like telling her about the voice I hear... but she appears to not really care about it.

*Not only that, she is willing to tease you for fun... like if you were a normal guy, and not someone who she should be wary off. She either trusts you completely, or her survival instincts are whacked*

BING!

Zelda draws her cellphone and smiles "I just told both of them about the last name we want for Zid, he is excited about it and Li gave me a thumbs up" Zelda giggles.

*And she changes the topic, coward*

Actually, so will I. there is no reason to delve on my mental status, and I want her to know that I am not angry or anything.

Link smiles and looks at his desk where Zelda left a few books "Radically changing topic, I noticed you brought books with you, are they interesting?"

"No, they are not novels or anything like that. One of them is on medical advances in Hyrule, the other one is about Hyrule's law system… I need to study them to bring my brothers home"

To bring the loops home… does she have any idea how much this means for all of us? none of us ever had a home to go back to. A lot of things happened during our journey… and we are not proud of most of the things we did.

Something inevitably broke in our head to ensure our survival, meaning we were no longer safe to be around… hence why we always left everyone and everything behind. It was better to live with the memory of what once was, than to watch them distance themselves from us out of fear.

*She has no way of knowing of your perils, but this Zelda… was exposed to different experiences, making her more emphatic. She is doing everything she can to be there for them, I don't mind that at all, do you? *

Of course not, I always wanted something like this, we ALL did. To always be able to return to people that didn't fear you, people that respect and accept you with ALL of your shadows.

"I have been checking on that myself" Link says as he walks to his desk and retrieves a book, he hands it to Zelda whose eyes go wide.

"So, YOU had this one… I couldn't find it yesterday, have you read it?"

"Yes, I even wrote a short summary of it, you can find it written in sheet of paper stuck somewhere in the middle of the book"

Zelda quickly opens the book searching for the summary, and there it was… it was sort indeed, but concise. "Perfect, now I just need to read these other two, to formulate plan to bring them here."

"I… never thought you were going to take this so seriously" Link tells her in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't I? those demented boys are my brothers. I only had a few days with them, but… they feel like family you know? And its sick because we are not even blood related. Yet, they deeply care for me, and made me feel like I was part of something bigger with them" sighs "I even forgot about Mr. Tudor. THAT FILFTY MOTHER FUCKER IS NO FAMILY OF MINE" the Princess yells.

HAHAHA, EXELLENT DECISION

Link raises his eyebrows and starts to smile. "Sounds like them to form that kind of attachment with a bratty girl they barely know" Link says trying poke her ego and start an argument.

Zelda opens her eyes wide "I know right? they went through hell and came out of it transformed into something beautiful… I care for them a LOT. That is why I need them here and you must help me. Read this book too please" the Princess hands Ziel the biology book "And make a summary too, I will read this other one since I believe YOU will have to perform a blood ritual with them"

"You mean, become sworn brothers?" Link asks referring to the Goron ritual.

"Yes. It's not like I don't want to do it myself, I would gladly. But it's strictly a male ritual. If done with a female it means marriage, depending on who you ask and where you do it."

"Fair" Link turns the room's light off, sits on his side of the bed turning the side lamp on.

"Go to sleep Princess" Ziel opens the book to start reading it "Tomorrow, I will wake you up at 6 am, we start with a light exercise routine for you, I need to make sure you have enough muscle to maneuver a short sword"

Zelda smiles at the prospect "Ok, just don't stay reading until late"

Link nods in agreement, and 20 minutes later he had already finished it. He reached for the ink and paper he had in his bureau, and quickly wrote the relevant fragments down before turning his lamp off.

That was ALMOST a loss of time. The available knowledge on human biology is scarce in Hyrule, we don't have enough medical equipment and technology for a DNA test. All the information the medics have on that regard is: if a patient needs blood, the patient MAY survive if said blood comes from a parent or a sibling. But they still hold it to a 60% chance of survival…

HOLY FUCK, THAT IS IT. Medics here are able to perform a blood transfusion. I need to bleed out a little, and receive blood from the loops. Me surviving the procedure will prove they are my brothers. That way we get everyone's approval to allow them entrance. Then we perform the Goron ritual just to completely silence worries and complains from the nobles. THIS FIXES EVERYTHING.

Link smiles victoriously, turns to look at his Princess, but she was fast asleep.

Link leans close to Zelda's ear and whispers "I think I have figured it out how we could bring them here"

The Princess begins to wrap her arms around his torso in her sleep. Link chuckles at that, and stretches before properly laying down on the bed next to her.

*You should try to separate yourself from her*

No, she should learn that it is on her best interest to keep away from me.

*So you let her wake up drenched in sweat, and probably sick… yet you claim I am the evil one*

Link breaths in deeply closing his eyes tired. He opens his eyes again only to find himself inside the Deku Tree. He smiles and looks up knowing he will find Goma there.

And here we go again, I wonder why I keep dreaming my past battles… I should ask Vincent next time.

Link started to fight the monster when suddenly a human head could be seen reflected in Gohma's eye, or at least it appeared to be a head. The eyes of the head seemed completely rolled back or death, since you couldn't see the iris. The face was ruthlessly painted turning it into a war mask, and the hair was as white as the eyes. Then the spider monster morphed into a human torso full of cuts and bandages, in the middle of the chest you could still see Gohma's eye looking around, and coming out from the torso where the legs of the spider monster.

 What the…

Link woke up. He was confused by the dream, but most of all, displeased. He would have loved to fight that abomination, just to see if he could have beaten it.

Ziel's eyes go wide once he realizes Zelda is still in contact with him, so he turns his head to look at her. The Princess cheeks where flushed, but she was not sweaty. She was no longer hugging his torso; she had her arms wrapped around his left hand. And she appeared to have kicked the blankets off the bed.

*Well, that also works to keep the heat at bay*

Damn it.

Link touches her shoulder with his right hand "Wake up Princess" he whispers.

Zelda slowly opens her eyes and yawns covering her mouth with her hand. The Princess quickly sits rubbing her eyes with her fists.

"Can you head to your room by yourself?"

"I can, what do you need from there?" she asks yawning again.

This girl is still asleep.

Chuckling "I need you to change into your boy attire before we exercise"

Zelda squints her eyes at him, and suddenly snaps them wide open, stands from the bed and runs out of the room. Less than a second later she reenters Link's room, gets inside the bathroom, throws water at her face, focusing on the eyes. Link watches bewildered but grabs a towel and hands it to her.

Zelda takes the towel smiling "Thank you".

After drying her face, Zelda starts moving her fingers in front of her eyes and then looks directly at Raziel, she points at her own eyebrows moving her fingers up and down and then points at the Prince. Link frowns confused, but then catches on, so he starts wiggling his eyebrows. Zelda smiles and waves Link good bye as she rushes out of his room.

What was that? was she having troubles with her sight?

*Morning blur perhaps*

Raziel shakes his head and proceeded to put on some trousers and a charcoal sleeveless tunic. He then headed to the garden to wait for Zelda.

Once he got there, he noticed one of the carpenters trying to do pull ups "Good morning, Ichiro, have you managed to do some?"

"I can only do 3… do you need to use this door frame now?"

"No, I will start with my run, maybe the pull up is too advanced for you, why don't you just hanging while you lift your legs as high as you can, then you slowly let the legs fall down. Start with 10-15 of those" Link tells the carpenter smiling.

*He appears to be motivated to continue with this*

I hope he is, exercise is always good on the body, especially for his line of work.

Zelda comes out of the castle and runs to Link; she then starts stretching her arms and legs preparing herself for the run.

"Same as before? I run the heck away and you tackle?"

Link chuckles "No, I will do that again once you have completely healed. Right now, I can still see a few bruises…" Link walks behind her and ties a rope around her hips "I will run up to you and pull on this rope making you fall back on your butt"

ZELDA POV

Really? SO MUCH BETTER. I guess today he does not feel as vengeful… that is good right?

"All right, how many laps this time?"

"Just one… I will tell you what to do after that"

The Princess smiled and started running, Ziel frowned at her cheating but started his run grinning. Zelda didn't take as much damage this time around, but Link managed to catch her 4 times before she finished her run.

 ALL RIGHT, this was SO MUCH BETTER, I am not completely sore and he got to me 4 times instead of 5… though that does not put me on a good on light if I think about it. I will show him that I can improve.

"So, what now?" Zelda asks Link.

Ziel ponders for a moment "I need to check on your physical state. I don't think you could do a pull up, but I can measure how long you can stay hanging"

"That… will evaluate my body?" Zelda asks

"In a way… I will give me an idea of your starting point before making an exercise schedule for you to gain some muscle"

Zelda looks at the ground "I… don't want to get bulky Link"

Ziel cracks up in laughter "GOOD, because you won't. Do you think I am bulky?"

"No, you are not small… fit but not bulky"

"The body is smart, it won't allow you to grow too much naturally" Link pulls out his cellphone to show her an image of bodybuilders "Bodies like this don't function for survival purposes, they can't even reach their own nose. To pump your body like that you have to overdose on protein and maybe steroids, that is a drug that has bad side effects. You will look just fine."

Link grabs her by the sides of her torso and pulls her up so she can grab on the ¨door frame¨.

"I was thinking that you should continue to do this until you manage to last a minute. If you happen to fall from the roof of somewhere and you are left hanging, I have a minute to react and think of a way to help you" Link lets go of her.

"You may..." Zelda yelps dropping to the ground, Link just closes his eyes and helps her up. "Girl, that was not even 2 seconds"

Zelda looks at him teary eyed "I FUCKING KNOW THAT. Damn, that was pathetic. What… how can I stretch my time?"

Link stands really close to her and grabs one of her arms, he starts pressing on different parts of her arm, he then goes on a knee in front of her and does the same with one of her legs. The Princess is actively avoiding Ziel's eyes, she didn't want him to notice his touch was flustering her.

"Princess… there is muscle because you can walk and run, but I can hardly feel any of it. You will start weight training, once your muscles grow, we progress to calisthenics, by then I will trust you enough to safely start training with the wooden sword"

"Calitetics?"

"Calisthenics, means you exercise with your own body weight"

"But… shouldn't I start with that and then move on to using weights? I mean… it's my body weight; it should be easier"

Link chuckles at that "You just failed to hold your own bodyweight for 60 seconds" he reminds her smiling.

"OH, MY GODDESSES, that was calisthenics?"

"One of the many exercises… Since you can control how heavy the weights are, it's a perfect starting point for beginners. Calisthenics is more of a middle ground, and in your case, the ending point. If you progress into using heavy weights, you will get bulky"

Zelda wrinkles her nose and shakes her head "And we don't want that… I like rubbing my eyes and scratching my nose if its itchy. So, what do I do now then?"

"Go inside and fill some bags with beans, 2 bags of 2 kilos each, you will exercise with those today. I will get you proper weights tomorrow… by the way, I think I figured out how to grant my brothers entrance to Hyrule" Link says as he starts running again.