Reunion and Rebirth

A trip from the shores of New Hyrule to Outset Island, for the ordinary sailor this voyage would be beyond daunting, yet a small red boat pulled up on the island carry two travelers who had done just that.

"Home sweet home!" Link couldn't even try to wait for Tetra before dashing off into his old village.

"Yes, it is," Tetra stuck to her own pace as she watched him hurry to his childhood house.

The journey that would push most ships to their limit was a simple matter for the Waker of Winds. His now effortless command of gales and cyclones could turn a trip of weeks into mere hours and months into a few days. It was only an inability to relocate where Tetra's ship still sailed on the open ocean than prevented them from making such a trip sooner, but here they were at last, with their new land precisely located and ready to invite those from the Great Sea to settle down on it. Naturally, Link's family took top priority as Tetra uneasily waved to the locals with whom she was still only vaguely familiar. Within minutes, she spotted Link leading his beloved grandmother and sister out of her home by the hand to spend some overdue time together outdoors. Rather than follow along, Tetra placed her focus on the house they left behind.

"Come to think of it, I never actually went inside this place," the pirate respectfully open the decorative wooden door.

As elated as Link was to come back to his home after being away for so many years, Tetra felt nostalgic to be sailing these seas once again even without a particular island to call her home. Even as she plotted more adventurous activities for later, she enjoyed the chance to take in the atmosphere of the house to give her hero the quality time he deserved with his family. Tetra sincerely admired the quaint choice of decor and bevy of family pictographs, including some he had taken on his travels and sent back to them. Seeing some of them be ones that included her gave her a sense of being part of Link's family she never quite realized how much she longed for. So much so that her head felt heavy as the comforting atmosphere enveloped her.

"Maybe just a quick nap," she allowed her consciousness to fade spread out on the sofa.

She found her dreams filled with memories of her own family. Nothing she found particularly good or bad, but recollections of just how high the hopes that had been placed on her since childhood. While normally such images would bring her some regret and discomfort, a certain aroma pervaded her mind all throughout the visions until eventually pulling her back to reality.

"Man, this house really does smell like soup," Tetra's eyes flickered open, unaware of how long she had been out, "Sure explains a lot about how Link grew up."

"Hello, Miss Tetra," she suddenly found her would-be sister greeting her through the door, "Glad to see you're awake."

"Hey, Aryll," Tetra groggily welcomed her to the chair next to the couch she was on, "There's no need to be so formal."

"Oh, okay then, Tetra," Aryll relaxed herself, "We actually came back to find you asleep about an hour ago."

"Is that so?"

"Grandma insisted to my brother that you needed the rest, so he instead went off with her to do the errands we aren't strong enough to on our own."

"He really hasn't changed at all," Tetra smirked.

"No, he hasn't. We could tell anyway from the letters he wrote," the younger sister fawned.

"Did he tell you what has changed?" she inquired.

"Yeah, he wants us to move into the seaside village you two are constructing on a new continent somewhere far away?"

"You interested in coming?"

"To be honest, it seems like quite the change for Grandma at her age, but we so badly want to live as a single family again."

"I'm sorry to have taken him and run off on you," Tetra apologized.

"No, we want him to be where he's needed most, to do the good he can for the world. It's why I admired him so much when he looked out for me after our parents died. I'm stronger than I used to be, but I want him to be able to be that special protector for someone else."

"He already is for me in a lot of ways," the pirate admitted.

"You were both fighting for me back then. I respect you a lot too, Tetra."

"Thanks, I would hope you have faith in my leadership going forward."

"I will, definitely," Aryll accepted.

The two shared a quick hug over their renewed bond, but as the small talk dragged on, Aryll's mind appeared to repeatedly snag on a certain point she seemed to keep veering away from, twiddling her thumbs in her lap each time.

"Is there something else you're hoping to get from me, Aryll?" Tetra asked, "I want you to feel like you can be open with me.

"Well, I kind of have something but it's hard to figure out who it's best to go to for help."

"Surely you don't think you can say that and not tell me what it is."

"Truthfully, I'm worried that just telling the wrong person could go wrong."

"What is there that's too much for a future queen?"

"Nothing, but it's..." Aryll continued to hesitate as Tetra playfully nudged her to wear down her guard.

"Come on, tell meeee," she whined playfully.

"Please don't tell anyone I asked you this."

"I won't. Princess's honor."

"Alriiiiiight then, Sooooo..." she began with a drawn-out introduction, "While we were first out. I asked my brother to tell me a gift he could use after being away for so long, and he suggested some new shorts to go swimming in."

"Okay, seems cheap and reasonable."

"Actually, I intend to make them myself like Grandma would make our clothes all those years ago."

"That's very admirable of you, but what would you need from me in this?"

"Well... I was using the clothes he brought along for the trip as a reference for the measurements and..." her cheeks gained a tinge of pink, "Something didn't seem right?"

"What? Even while traveling we keep our clothes properly laundered."

"Yes, I can see that but what I can also see is..." her words became increasingly uneasy, "The crotch areas on everything he's got seem abnormally well used."

"Well used?" Tetra paid closer attention.

"You know... worn out, stretched... as if.. he needs more space down there..."

"Space for what?" the pirate cocked a devious eyebrow

"Um... his penis obviously..." Aryll lowered her voice to a mutter

"And why are you asking me about this?" Tetra stretched out her arms on the backrest.

"So I can make his trunks more comfortable, of course."

"Then why not ask him what he wants?"

"I could never do that after so long apart!" she ramped up her tone from near zero to one hundred in an instant, "Sure, I saw it when he was a kid but it wasn't that big.. I think..."

"You think?"

"How should I know? I'm just a shut-in island girl who's barely been on a date. You'd almost certainly know more than me about it."

"Just what is it that?"

"I just saw those pictures and that boat you had come in on. It seems like you'd be spending a lot of time together, you know, alone."

"Yes, that much is true."

"Then... you've seen it, right?"

"What do you think?"

"Well, I mean those trousers he wears do seem a bit... clingy."

"With what he's got, it can't really be helped," the pirate shrugged

"...So, you really have seen it..."

"Yes, I have." Tetra plainly confessed.

"Then... I just need you to..." Aryll's cheeks kept growing redder.

"Do you really want to know about that?" the pirate coolly inquired.

"I just want to do the best I can for him without me having to ask him about his sex life?"

"But you are asking me."

"If I can spare him the awkwardness it's worth it. I just need to know that he's happy. There's no need to make him explain himself."

"That's very sweet of you, but I don't mince words. I'll tell you the truth and nothing but."

"I don't need the whole truth. Just an effective frame of reference for where to place the seams."

"As you wish..." Tetra began glancing around before picking the soup bottle she had just been drinking out of before back up, "Here you go, young lady."

"What's this?" she accepted the container.

"Your reference, just shove that into the trunks to get an idea of what he's working with."

"Oh goodness," Aryll blushed more fully, "Thanks but these are only swimming shorts."

"And?"

"I don't think he'll be doing a ton of making out in them. I only need a reference for how he is, you know, "at rest," she wagged her fingers.

"What kind of fool do you take me for? What I gave you is him "at rest", Aryll," Tetra wagged her fingers directly back at her.

Aryll stopped to briefly examine her face for any hints of deception but then moved her gaze back to the bottle in her hand. Tetra said nothing even though she could tell by the clenching of Aryll's fingers that she was mentally comparing the size of the container to her full hand.

"Okay... I see..." she set the bottle down when she appeared to be on the brink of overheating, "It's not that I think you're a liar but that sure is a lot for me to take."

"Believe me, it's even more for me," Tetra bowled her over with a wink and innuendo.

"Oh, come on! Why did you have to say something like that?!" the sister of the hero almost looked to be having steam coming out of her ears.

"Look, I'm just saying that if you did need an idea of what he's like at full-size, I'm not sure how I would go about having you borrow my forearm," the pirate held out her wrist with a devious grin.

"No, no, no, nooooo! We are not having this conversation!" Aryll flailed her hands in front of her face until Tetra lowered her arm, having a hearty laugh at her expense.

Tetra took a few moments to calm back down as Aryll's face maintained a distinct shade of red. It gradually faded away though as her mind seemed to be made up on something.

"So then," Link's sister waited for silence before speaking again, "Does this mean you're trying to have a child now?"

"Huh?" Tetra's face now got a slight tinge of red to match hers, "Well, I mean, we'll let things happen as they happen."

"I don't particularly want to hear about his private urges, but, make no mistake, Tetra," Aryll grew surprisingly stern, "My brother would never have sex with a woman he didn't want to give a baby to. Do you accept that responsibility?"

"Um... I guess I do..." Tetra's answer wasn't nearly concrete enough for Aryll's liking.

"Is that all he is to you, a guess?" she stared directly into her eyes.

"No, of course not, it's just that..." Tetra felt herself waffling before giving herself a wake-up slap to the face, "It's truly difficult to explain, Aryll."

"I still think that it's the least you can do."

"Yes, you're right," the pirate refocused with a sigh, "The truth is that I have to have kids at some point. I'm the last of an ancient bloodline that needs to continue for the greater good of the world."

"I've heard about that, but I dislike the notion that Link is just a means to an end."

"No, no, no, of course not!" Tetra now found herself to be the one on the defensive, "What I'm saying is the thought of motherhood never occurred to me naturally back then. It just felt like something that I would eventually have to do."

"And what about now?"

"That's just it," she continued, "He, your brother, changed everything for me."

"How so?"

"He... truly made me feel like a woman," Tetra answered with a pause.

"You didn't before. I always found you to be quite beautiful, Tetra."

"Okay, thanks, but be real for a second and look at me. I'm the wild and crazy pirate sailing the seas and plundering treasure. Who would have ever envisioned me as girlfriend material?"

"Well, my brother did, obviously," Aryll stated bluntly.

"That is beyond an understatement, Aryll," Tetra almost seemed exasperated, "He didn't just talk the talk, but he walked the walk. He said to me things I never knew I wanted to hear and touched me in ways I never thought I wanted to be touched. I'm still not sure how much I want a baby on my own, but he makes my body ache for the chance to carry his baby. It's plain as day just how much family means to him. What I want is the chance to repay my debt and live up to his overly generous expectations."

"I see..." Aryll took a moment of contemplation, "Yes, we all owe him something tremendous and need to be there for him in whatever way he needs us."

"Trust me Aryll," some confidence returned to her voice, "When you've got a man you care about thrusting just shy of ten inches of throbbing, rock hard meat into you, trembling, begging for release, there's not a thing you won't want to do for him."

"Um... yes, I can understand that, and I'll take care to make his clothes with that in mind..." Aryll contained her embarrassment until they both shared a warm laugh together, just in time to notice Link and his grandmother returning to the front door.

"Tetra!" Link gleefully opened the door for himself and the elderly woman, "Glad to see you're up. I was afraid the trip had wiped you out completely."

"Hey, don't count me out that easily," she winked back.

"I promise I won't, and, speaking of which, despite my worries, it seems my grandma here thinks she's up to the trip to New Hyrule," the hero announced.

"Really?" Aryll stood up in surprise.

"I know it may seem tough for me, but I'm ready to do what I must to see this family whole again," she declared.

"Of course, we'll be taking some time to prepare first and coming back later with a more well-equipped boat than we have here now," Link added.

"Please, don't hurry on my account. A few more weeks or months are nothing compared to how long I've already waited," his grandmother reassured him, "What I want to see first is for you to enjoy your time back home after so long away. Take some time alone with your lovely girlfriend who's done so much for us."

"Yes, of course, take as much time as you two need," Aryll put an arm around a suddenly blushing Tetra.

"Yeah, we've certainly got plans together," she admitted.

"And I'll have you both well-fed for it," Link's grandma eyed her trusty soup pot.

"I'll get to work on those trunks so you can enjoy this old ocean of ours together," Aryll went back to her work area with wholly renewed enthusiasm, "It's the least I can do to show my gratitude for all you've done."

And so, the celebration went. Along with what felt like their best meal in several years, Link got his long awaited chance to personally regale his family with tales of his adventures while Tetra learned more about the life of the boy who would one day become her hero. Even knowing it was only temporary this time, it still proved difficult for Link to say farewell to his family once more when the time came for him to resume his travels. He didn't doubt the Tetra would have been willing to stay as long as he wanted, but, with the maturity he had gained on his travels, he knew there were some things he could only share alone with Tetra as man and woman. Fortunately, he had long since confirmed the perfect location for it.

"Wow, Tetra, would you just look at that sunset?" Link noted as he watched the love of his life jubilantly splash in the ocean only a few feet away from where he stood in the tide.

Leaping out from underneath the water, the pirate princess triumphantly threw her head back. It sent her hair cascading with it as she splashed around with the dusk as her backdrop. Her adoring hero looked on with admiration, as she showed off her well-tanned figure in a violet bikini. After much hard work and success upon the new continent they had discovered together the future king and queen were taking a day off to themselves with the construction of its growing number of villages coming along smoothly. Now, they were swimming together in the seas they had been raised on, staying in the oasis the hero had earned as an adventurous child after a visit to the home he had long since grown sick for. Even as the daytime drew near its end, the air and ocean were still warm amidst the tropical climate. However, they both sensed the first chills of dusk beginning to set in.

"I'm stepping out for a break, Tetra," he announced, "It's not good to let yourself cool off too much."

"I know, I know," she acknowledged his concern and followed him back to the sandy shore.

As he stepped out of the ocean the swim trunks he was currently wearing came into full view. As promised earlier, they bore an emblem that had become all too familiar to her on his other clothing.

"You really are proud of those shorts Aryll made you, huh?" Tetra observed, "Just like that shirt you wore as a child."

"This crayfish is a symbol of my home island, it was my family that made that old shirt of mine too," he held his hands on his hips, "I could never abandon it no matter how far away I go."

"Guess I can't exactly relate, having been born out on the ocean and all." Tetra opted not to point out how even his flaccid manhood created a distinct protrusion in the cherished symbol, unsure if it was an intentional part of the design.

"There's nothing wrong with treasuring the time you spent on that pirate ship. Home is more than just a clump of dirt."

"Having actual land to start a family on is still important. It's why we sailed the world together after all."

"Yes, it is."

As she turned back to gaze out at the sun setting over the sea though, Tetra couldn't help but allow a certain other mass of land creep back into her thoughts. Even if they had long since agreed that leaving it behind had been a decision for the best.

"You know, Hyrule is still under all this somewhere out there," she suddenly remarked to him, "The old one, I mean."

"Yeah, I guess it is," he added, "Him too...I hope he'd be satisfied with the work I've done." Tetra didn't even need to ask who it was that the hero was referring to.

"I'm most certain he would be," Link proudly crossed his arms across his chest.

The pair simply paused to observe the final moments of the sunset on the sea as they reflected on those who had sacrificed so much in the hopes of giving them a better future. The stars began sprinkling themselves the horizon one by one when Tetra decided to speak again.

"He's not the only one," she reflected, "Mom had high hopes for me too, even if I didn't realize it at the time."

"I'm sure what she wanted most was what was best for you, " he consoled her.

"Me too but because of that she held lofty expectations for you as well," she gazed up at him, "She would put me to bed with tales of the legendary heroes in green."

"What kind of tales?" He became intrigued.

"Typical bedtime story stuff for kids. Nothing I thought to be anything special at the time, but interesting to think back on now that I know they were true."

"There were stories on Outset Island too, but they were just shared as lessons on bravery. Never anything I dared to think I would be asked to live up to."

"She told me that he'd do anything for his princess and his home. Don't see what more you can do to live up to that."

"Maybe but if I was just a bit stronger maybe I could've protected the King and old Hyrule as well."

"We protected it as much as we could. As you said before, home is more than a clump of dirt. Ganondorf saw Hyrule as just a place to conquer while its true king realized that it was an idea as much as anything else. We fought for that idea and won. Ganondorf is the one who failed, not you."

"I couldn't have done it without you and that's something I could never forget."

"We're a team, Link. We always will be."

Their eyes locked with a lighthearted grin on his face and a sly one on hers as they looked over one another affectionately. He gazed down on her from above while her eyes started at his head and shifted downward to look him over in full. His hair was swayed by the gentle breeze, and his upper frame still glistened from the remaining traces of seawater upon it. Finally, she got down to his swim trunks which bore a deep shade of blue along with the crayfish pattern they had discussed just prior. Still being fresh out of the water, the material clung to his penis underneath in a manner both too obscene and too enticing to ignore. No story she gave Aryll could've adequately prepared her for the real thing, but at least he seemed comfortable in them. If they had been out in public, she would've left the leering and snide comments to the bystanders, but she couldn't let it go unaddressed while they were alone here. Especially when she was certain she saw it growing just a bit larger as he admired her two-piece swimsuit.