#Uli will now be responsible for feeding the entire village for at least the next few days

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Part 2! In which Malon and Time get a peaceful day off, Link eats more bread than he's ever had in his entire life, Til nearly kills her newlywed husband and they're both lost teenagers, and Zelda has a happy moment

Healthcare AU

Malon poked the loaf tentatively at the loaf. It sank tenderly under her finger. Was this... actually cooked enough? She'd followed the recipe exactly - this should be fine, right?

Ehh... five more minutes.

Time eventually wandered into the kitchen, a little impatient and hungry, and Malon pulled the bread bowl out of the oven once more.

"Okay," she said slowly. "Moment of truth."

The couple peered over, both yelping as steam attacked them in excess when Malon first pulled the cloche lid away. When the initial assault was over, the loaf sat innocently in the bowl, crispy golden and perfectly shaped.

Malon gasped. "Oh, it worked! Look at that!"

"It smells great," Time added with a smile.

The pair hesitantly tore into the bread, each trying a piece, and they shared a look of delight, eyes widening. Time hastily went to the fridge to find jam and stumbled on to some apple butter, and the two settled on the porch swing together, enjoying Malon's efforts as they leaned their heads against each other and watched the horses graze.

Ordon Fam

With Link secure in his arms, with the entire family together again and safe, with that cursed shackle evaporating in a cloud of dark magic, Rusl let his gaze wander around the room. When they reached the kitchen, he felt his eyebrows rise a little.

He was fairly certain he'd never seen so much bread and cakes in his life.

Link shifted, moving towards his mother a hair, and the parents shifted him from one set of comforting arms to another. Rusl ruffled Colin's hair and watched as Link settled against Uli, his head resting on her shoulder, eyes hidden from view.

"Link," Colin finally said. "Ma made so much food. You have to help me eat some, I was so stuffed. It's like when we came home from Kakariko. Wait - does food taste different to you now?"

Link lifted his head a touch, his temple resting against his mother's cheek, eyes bleary from crying. Uli kissed him, running a hand through his hair. Then she sheepishly looked at her husband. "I might have gone a little too far this time."

"I was going to ask if you'd opened a bakery while I was gone," Rusl chuckled. "We might have to share this with the rest of the village."

Link finally found his voice, smiling and resting his hand on Colin's head. "Food still tastes the same to me. I'm... I'm still me, you know."

"Great!" Colin accepted easily. "Let's eat, then!"

Link's face warmed at the quick acknowledgement, at how simple it was to just convince his family that he was still the person they knew. His gaze followed Colin's hasty retreat to the kitchen, and then his eyes widened.

Uli swatted him gently. "Oh, stop, I already know it's bad."

"Uli, I'm counting twelve loaves of bread, four pies, and six cakes," Rusl noted as the three rose together.

"Well, I hope you're hungry, then," Uli laughed.

The Wildlings

Abel shifted in the warm bed, body heavy with slumber. A content sigh escaped his throat, and he stretched lazily. When he reached out and felt only more blankets, though, he registered more sunlight than expected piercing through his eyelids. Opening his eyes, Abel propped himself up on an elbow, disoriented.

The loft was empty. The air smelled of bread and four. Confused, Abel asked hoarsely, "Til?"

He heard a small gasp and feet hastily rushing up the stairs. His wife's beaming face appeared quickly, and Abel found himself waking up hastily as she didn't slow her approach, instead leaping on to the bed and slamming into him.

"Abel!" she greeted with a laugh as Abel grunted, the wind knocked out of him. He found himself laughing too at her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. The pair shared a quick kiss.

Abel finally caught his breath and smiled. "Good morning."

Til nuzzled his nose with her own before getting off him. "I made bread."

"Is that why I'm smelling--" Abel tried to finish, but his wife's boisterous energy was back with a vengeance as she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of bed and down the stairs to observe her work.

The tiny, crusty little ball of overcooked flour stared back at them disapprovingly. Tilieth visibly wilted beside him.

"I think I baked it too long," she admitted with a shaky chuckle.

"Let's bake one together," Abel suggested. "My sister, Ama, used to make bread to sell. I know a bit about it."

Tilieth perked up. "You didn't tell me your sister was a baker!"

"She's not," Abel shook his head. "She... she did it to survive. But it was good enough to sell. Let's do it together."

The pair set to work, making new dough, going outside to enjoy the morning while it rose, monitoring it closely as it baked. When the second one came out overloaded with flour, Abel scrunched his nose in mild annoyance.

"We need an adult," Tilieth noted.

"We are adults."

"We need adultier adults."

"We'll figure it out."

"I'm getting my parents," Tilieth finally sighed, giving up.

Abel turned to argue, but realized that... was probably a good idea.

Princess Zelda

Zelda cried.

In front of her on teh table sat a loaf of bread, a little misshapen around the edges, perfectly golden on the top with crispy edges and a slice carefully cut out. The insides were spongy and soft, the smell of dough lingering and gently mixing with its cooked counterpart.

Flour covered the counters. Dishes waited to be washed.

And Zelda cried.

She'd made that. She made it.

Children's laughter echoed outside. Birdsong was loud by the window as a bird built a nest there. The bread sat there, fresh and new waiting.

Zelda's sobs shifted to laughter, tears still falling freely. Hateno breathed life all around her, and in that small kitchen and dining area, a princess of Hyrule came back to life, filled with hope.

The Great Bakeoff (pt 1)

I'm waiting for my dough to rise so let's have some fun and see how several of the blorbos handle making bread :D

Healthcare AU

Malon smiled, hands on her hips as she surveyed all the ingredients and cookware in front of her. She had organized her tools on her counter like a scrub tech would lay out tools for a surgery, which she had noted halfway through with a touch of amusement, but it was routine to her, so she let it carry over into her kitchen.

Today was the day she and Time finally had more than one day off together, and she was choosing to celebrate. Being domestic and making some bread seemed appropriate, and she'd gone to the bakery with Four enough times to want that amazing smell of freshly baked bread wafting through her own home.

Time to get to work. Reading the cookbook, she yelped when she felt hands slide around her waist.

"Oh, you!" she harrumphed, bopping her husband on the face with a roll of paper towels. "I'm trying to bake!"

"I see that," Time noted. "Need some help?"

"The last time you tried to help you set the bread on fire."

"That was only one time, dear."

Malon shooed him. "Go outside and spend some time with the horses like you've been wanting to. I'll meet you out there."

Time smiled and obliged, though not before stealing her dish rag and making her chase him and pay a toll of a kiss for its safe return. Eventually she set to work, focusing and enjoying the task at hand. As she combined flour, yeast, sugar, and salt, she couldn't help but wonder how all of this would make a good loaf.

Well, it doesn't have to be perfect, she supposed. Just edible. I can do edible. I'm a mighty fine cook, after all... or at least I used to be before my nursing career destroyed my free time.

But she'd never baked, and she knew how precise of an art that was.

Malon poured the hot water into the mixture, hesitantly stirring it with a spoon before getting her hands dirty. The first mistake was that she definitely should have put flour on her hands to avoid the dough sticking to her, but it seemed to form together well enough under her hands.

Smiling at her work, Malon covered the dough and set a timer on her phone before washing her hands and strolling out to see Link riding Epona around the field.

Ordon Fam

Uli stress baked and she would be the first one to admit it.

Most of her cooking was meals - hearty stews, egg and milk based recipes, vegetables and the occasional fruit or meat that Rusl would bring. But when her worries clenched her heart and made it to her hands, she would end up buying ingredients off Sera and setting to work.

Today she had to distract Colin while her husband and Link were away in Kakariko, an all-too-quiet rainy morning after such a horrific night. Link had been so dreadfully injured, and Rusl--

Uli bit her cheek, blinking tears away. Colin giggled from her bedroom where he was babysitting Hana.

She let her hands do the work automatically, easing her mind and heart, settling into a familiar, comforting routine. The dough was smooth and bouncy under her hands, a satisfying texture that distracted her enough. She could get her worries out through liberally kneading it, hands and mind so in sync that she hadn't even noticed she'd been abusing the dough for so long the shadows in the house had shifted positions.

Shaking her head, she covered the loaf to let the dough rise, making her way to her children.

The Wildlings

Tilieth stared bemusedly at the ingredients. Her finger bounced from item to item, listing it out loud in an attempt to ensure she had everything. After repeating the word salt four times and staring into the void, she discovered why her brain was short circuiting.

"I forgot flour!" she groaned.

Wait! No, she hadn't forgotten flour, that was literally the most basic ingredient to making bread. She had it somewhere.

One search later, Tilieth had discovered that not only did she have flour, but also shriveled Hylian tomatoes that probably would have benefitted from being eaten a week ago.

Okay. Now she had what she needed.

Excited, she began to mix ingredients, having never made bread before. She wanted to see if she would be any good at baking different kinds of loaves, hoping to try new food and perhaps even share it with her parents and Abel. Her newlywed husband was actually sleeping in for the first time since they'd been married, and she was going to take advantage of it by surprising him.

Rummaging through their kitchen, she paused as she found that she wasn't entirely sure where the measuring cup was. She was certain she had put it in this one cabinet, but...

Ah, wait, her mother had moved it when Til had gotten overwhelmed organizing the new home.

With a triumphant, quiet ha! Tilieth pulled the item in question out and held it up to inspect it happily. She finally had everything she needed.

It wasn't until she was halfway through kneading that she remembered she didn't have a bread knife to cut the loaf that she was halfway through making.

The Princess

Zelda took a steadying breath as she stared at the bowl. Link had been cooking with her and teaching her basic recipes for a while now, and she finally wanted to try something for herself. Her friend and loyal companion was out of town, having gone to Zora's Domain to visit, leaving Zelda to sort out organizing her new home.

This was the first meal she'd ever made alone.

For a moment, she felt heartache at the thought of it. But it only lasted a moment, and instead, she felt eager, excited anticipation bubbling in her chest. No, she no longer was fed by royal chefs, no longer provided provisions by any settlement or outpost they visited. But she was building a new life for herself, and she finally felt like she was regaining her footing in a world that had seemed so empty and foreign a few months ago.

This was more than just baking bread. This was the start of a new chapter, this was her proving to herself that she could do this.

And so she set to work, having researched the recipe meticulously, eager to get every aspect of it right, ready to show herself that she was capable, that nothing was wrong with her, and that if she could piece herself back together, then she could rebuild Hyrule just as well.