Prologue
It was raining that day, which was why she had decided to stay in the study. Zelda's study was much more cozy than the Royal Archives, and much better laid out; organizing the archives was a bit of a haphazard project, taken in slow steps at best. Raiha glanced absently down at the notes she was making, Zelda working at her own desk with quiet contentment, then got up to seek a new book that would help her identify the time period she was thinking of.
Tetra came bounding in on the stick-pony Link had made for her, blowing an imaginary horn as she darted around the room, though the little princess was careful to keep clear of her two working mothers. Raiha chuckled a little; the little blonde girl had turned five the week before, and was very excited by the idea that she was going to be an older sister in a few months. This was proved a minute later when Tetra bounced gleefully over and gave Raiha a hug, one hand landing on her only-slightly protruding belly.
"When do I get to meet my new brother an sissy?" she asked, bouncing up on her toes. "Mama?"
Raiha blinked, smiling down in a bemused way.
"Brother and sister?" she echoed, raising en eyebrow. "What if it's two brothers, or two sisters?"
"Nu uh! It's gonna be a brother and a sister!" Tetra insisted, hand firmly planted on Raiha's stomach. "They said so! ...Mama? Mama, what's wrong?"
It felt like the world had dropped out from under her, really. She shouldn't have been surprised by this turn of events; as small as her magic was, Zelda still had some, and Raiha hadn't been kidding when she'd suggested that the little girl would be able to cast spell in the near future... but she certainly hadn't expected a moment like that.
"Raiha?" Zelda's worried voice cut through the sudden spike of memory. "What's wrong, dear?"
"I..."
She closed her eyes. One hand found Tetra's head and tousled the fluffy blonde hair.
"It's... nothing," she finally said. "I'm all right. So, I'm going to have a boy and a girl?"
Tetra nodded emphatically, though the small child still looked quite worried. Raiha did her best to give the child a reassuring smile, trying to ease her white-knuckled grip on the shelf.
"Tetra, dear, why don't you go ask Papa to give you a lesson in the area?" Zelda suggested, rising from her chair. "It'll keep him from getting too bored."
And Ganon would be kept distracted by the little girl, which was precisely what Raiha wanted at the moment. Tetra thought about it, then nodded, and 'galloped' her way out of the room, though not without one last backwards glance at Raiha.
When the door closed, Raiha leaned against the shelf, and let out a shuddering breath. Zelda did not rush, but she was over by her side in a few graceful strides, gently putting an arm around the taller woman.
"You looked as pale as a sheet," the queen said gently. "Are you certain you're all right?"
"I..." Raiha sighed, and leaned against Zelda slightly. "I'm sorry, Zel, I really... I don't want to talk about it."
"...all right. Why don't you come sit down, then? You would never hear the end of it if Ganon or Link heard you fell down."
The redhead smiled ruefully, allowing herself to be led back over to the couch, which she sank down onto gratefully. Nayru's tears, but she had never expected little Tetra to develop that sort of thing. Prophetic dreams were more an indicator of magical talent in Zelda's line. That certain knowing, that intuitive touch...
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, then ran a hand across her face tiredly. Just the certainty of the child had stirred up so many old, painful memories...
"...is there anything I can do to help, dear?" Zelda's voice was soft, gentle.
"I'll be all right, it just..." Raiha laughed a little, a surprisingly hopeless sound. "Old memories. Very very old. I don't... I don't like remembering that time period. I don't like having to remember, and most of the time it's so... so muted because of how old it is. She didn't mean to, but that..."
She just shook her head lightly and sighed. Zelda gave her a soft hug, leaning her head against Raiha's shoulders. After a moment though, the redhead shook her head a little and stood.
"I'm sorry, I... I need some space. I can't..."
She glanced down at Zelda, winced at the overt concern, then looked away.
"I brought my journals back from the Zora," she said after a long minute. "The top three should tell you the story. Get Gan to read them, I wrote in Gerudo for a reason... Back of the library, near the broken sconce. He'll understand."
Before Zelda could respond, Raiha left, heading straight for her room. She'd take the message pouch and some supplies so that they wouldn't worry, but she needed the clear waters of the lake to calm her spinning mind.
Zelda worried. Of course she did, she loved Raiha, and that had not been typical Raiha behavior.
Well, all right, in part it had been. Raiha rarely mentioned past events, and it was clearer now why she didn't. For all she had lived through, no doubt she had more painful memories than happy ones, and Zelda could somewhat understand the desire to live in the moment. Ganon was very much the same.
Of course, she had told Tetra to go ask Ganon for pony-riding lessons, so interrupting that wouldn't go so well...
After a moment the queen of Hyrule got up from the couch and headed to the Royal Archives. She had a feeling she knew where the journals were, and after Tetra was put to bed, she would ask Ganon to read them, as Raiha had said he could.
As she made her way to the archives, Link caught up with her, rainwater dripping from his hair. Zelda smiled fondly at him, slowing her steps.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "I thought you were in the study with Rai?"
"I was," Zelda nodded a little. "Tetra said something that... upset her. Not on purpose! But that was the end result. Raiha needed... some alone time, but she said we could read her journals to understand why. So I was going to collect them so that we could do that after Tetra has gone to bed."
Link's brows drew together in concern, but Zelda caught his wrist before he could step away.
"No, let her be for the moment,like she desires," she said gently. "When she is ready to see us again, then she will."
"I know, but..."
Zelda smiled sympathetically; of the three of them, Link was the one who had the worst time when it came to letting Raiha be by herself when she needed it. He was attached in a way the queen didn't entirely understand, but after some discussion, had come to accept.
"Don't fuss. You know she doesn't like it. We'll have a much better chance of seeing her sooner if we just give her the space she desires."
After all, if she hadn't meant it, she wouldn't have left so quickly.
Link hesitated a moment longer, then nodded reluctantly, making Zelda smile.
"Come, she said the journals were in the archives, near a broken sconce. If we find them, we can have them ready for Ganon to begin reading after everything is settled."
"Do you really think it'll help?" he asked.
Zelda tipped her head thoughtfully, then offered an uncertain shrug.
"I am not certain, but she did give her permission. And I would like to understand... She went so pale, for a moment I thought she might faint. If the journals tell us why that was so unnerving for her, perhaps it will help us avoid causing her future pains. If nothing else, the knowledge of what she went through might ease our own feelings of guilt and frustrations when she tries pushing us away because of an incautiously said phrase."
Link nodded again, though he couldn't help glancing over his shoulder. Zelda smiled faintly, fondly, in understanding.
"She will be all right. If not for our sake, then for the babies' health and well-being. It will, I hope, come out all right."
Putting Tetra to bed took more time than typical that evening; it had been discovered that Raiha had left the palace entirely, and as Raiha was usually in charge of the bedtime story—something the redhead had actively enjoyed herself—it took some doing to convince the little girl that her mama was not upset with her, and that story time would still happen, but it would be one of the other three, and not her mama.
Naturally by the time the small child fell asleep in the middle of Link reading the book, they were all rather worn out.
"She picks the worst time to get emotional," Ganon grumbled, though his words were laced with concern more than actual anger. "She shouldn't go alone..."
"She's more capable of caring for herself at the moment than we are," Zelda said quietly, hands folded in her lap. "And she won't feel comforted by our concern, not when we don't understand the why behind the words."
His hands clenched tight briefly, then he sighed in resignation. Zelda was, in this case, absolutely correct. It drove him crazy the way the redhead would just withdraw at times, but could he really blame her? Years of living within his own personal hell had made him more sensitive than most to the emotional scars and weight she still unconsciously carried, but even he had tripped up more than once.
Link closed the door to Zelda's personal parlor behind him, then flopped into a chair with a weary sigh, adding another level to the Gerudo male's guilt. He knew with a sharp sting, just how much Raiha cared about Link, and how much that affection was returned. It had been that way from the beginning, he thought, though his memories of those times were so hazy...
After a moment, he looked to the three journals on the low table.
"She really said we could read these?" he asked.
"She did. Rather, she said you could read them, since they were written in the Gerudo language, which, theoretically, you ought to know," Zelda smiled a little sadly. "I had hoped you would read them to us, but if you would prefer to only read them to yourself, I will understand."
He hesitated, then shook his head a little, settling onto a chair of his own.
"No, I'll read them out loud. But it'll probably take a while to go through it all..."
"We can do it in pieces," Zelda replied firmly. "But I think we need to do it, if we have any hopes of understanding why it caused her so much distress."
Link just nodded, leaning forward a little in his chair. After a minute, Ganon nodded as well, curious and concerned, then reached out and picked up one of the journals.
"At least she was obliging enough to mark the order," he muttered, looking at the marks on the leather cover. "Huh... Ocarina tale?"
"She said the top three would give us what we needed," Zelda said with a slight nod. "I think the other three reference the Twilight Incident."
Ganon nodded again, then cracked the journal open and began to read.
