I find it so mind-numbingly frustrating whenever I see people (particularly on twitter and tiktok) being like "Zelda abandoned Link in the child timeline" or that "Link had no strong connections with Zelda in the child timeline" when it is so blatantly NOT TRUE. Like dude maybe if you had eyes and actually paid attention to anything aside from what you personally wanted to see, you would know that Majora's Mask says the exact opposite about their relationship. And there's only one single scene in the entire game I need in order to prove it.
This is a flashback that Link has of Zelda in Majora's Mask when he retrieves the Ocarina of Time from Skull Kid at the top of the Clock Tower, and it singlehandedly says so much, and all of it very positive, about Link and Zelda's friendship post-oot. This is what Zelda has to say to Link before he leaves:
"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you? Even though it's only been a short time, I feel like I've known you forever. I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule. And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again. Until that day comes, please...take this...[Zelda pulls out the Ocarina of Time] I am praying...I am praying that your journey be a safe one. If something should happen to you, remember this song. [Zelda starts playing the Song of Time] This reminds me of us...the goddess of time is protecting you. If you play the song of time, she will aid you..."
There's nothing cold or distant about Zelda's words whatsoever for this entire exchange. This isn't some random stranger she's speaking to or someone she's bound to by duty alone, this is someone who she's formed a close bond with and clearly cares deeply about and in her heart doesn't want him to leave. But despite that she doesn't force him to stay, doesn't even try to convince him with words to stay with her in Hyrule, but simply accepts that this is what Link wants and that she shouldn't try to stop him. Heck, maybe deep down she knows that this journey of Link's is what he needs in order to really heal and grow from his past adventure.
And then she gives him the Ocarina of Time, which far too few people seem to understand the true scope of and what it means. There's no way in the world Zelda would have just handed over the Ocarina of Time, the royal family's priceless treasure, to a complete stranger or someone she didn't trust. Zelda giving Link the Ocarina, not because she had to but simply in the hopes that its power would help and protect Link, displays a profound sense of trust and affection for him on Zelda's part.
She then teaches him the song of time, which Zelda herself says "reminds me of us", a testament to their bond. At the end of the flashback, a dialogue box then appears saying, presumably from Link's own pov, that "this melody, lingering on the edges of your mind, is a song of memories of Princess Zelda." So not only do we have Zelda telling Link that the song of time is their song, we have Link less than a minute later agreeing with what she says. And it's this song, the song of their friendship, that literally saves Link's life.
In short, despite what most people have deluded themselves into believing, Link does NOT hate Zelda and he and Zelda formed a close bond between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask and that is made very obvious in Link's flashback of her. It's literally right there in the game and I'm sick and tired of people pretending it's not.
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