I Won't See You Tonight
A Legend of Zelda story
(A/N) This story, which is mostly from Link's perspective, is not in any particular game; Link is still the Hero of Time, though. I don't own the characters, setting, etc; I own only the plot and any OCs.
"Is something wrong," Zelda asked me softly. She'd been asking all week. I was dealing with the loss of a good friend I'd met on my travels, with whom I'd kept in touch by writing letters back and forth. Vince was like me in a lot of ways and we immediately became good friends. It was like I'd known him for a lot longer than a few weeks, closer to a few months. As a result, I was absolutely devastated. His death wasn't particularly tragic but its effect was very strong. I was completely miserable.
I looked at her sullenly. "Must you ask that every time? It's the same thing every time. He was my best friend. It's like I've been ripped in half."
"You need to do something to get it off your mind," she advised quietly. "Dwelling on it is bad for you, Link."
"Do you think I can help it," I asked, trying to not lash out, as I'd been prone to doing. I'd already made Zelda cry from an outburst, totally unintentionally, of course.
Zelda hugged me and held me affectionately. "Do you think he'd want to see you like this," she asked, like she'd done before.
"No," I said sullenly, just like every other time. "He'd want me to be strong." I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. "But it's so hard, Zelda."
"I know," she soothed. "Look at me, Link." She cupped my cheek. "You are strong. You are the Hero of Time. You will make it through this. Link, what would you do if I died?"
"I," I had no idea what to say for a moment.
"Let's try something easier. What do you think I want you to do if I die?"
"You would want me to be strong."
"Yes. He is no different. You must be strong. No amount of moping will bring him back."
Anger rose in me quickly. "Do you know what it's like, Zelda? Do you know what it's like to lose something this close to you?"
"Don't forget; my parents died when I was young, Link."
"But you didn't have the ability to understand it at the time," I hissed. "You don't know what it feels like to know that someone so special died. It hurts so much. You don't know my pain, Zelda, so don't tell me that you do. Don't lie to me, Zelda."
"Link, I…" I cut her off.
"What, you're going to tell me that it's going to be okay? It's not going to be okay, Zelda. He was too special to me." I rose to my feet.
"W-where are you going," she asked timidly.
"That's none of your business. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave, Princess," I seethed before storming out. I exited the castle and began to run. I ran as quickly as I could back to my house near Lon Lon Ranch. I ended up venting my anger on my training dummy. It was badly abused from all of my practice sessions and received yet more brutal punishment as I hacked at it. I ended up accidently destroying it, slicing it cleanly in half.
"Damn it," I growled to myself. "That should not have happened." I could stitch it up again, which I'd already done a few times, and did, but I was still rather annoyed that it had to break at that particular time.
A week passed and I'd done nothing except succumb to my depression. I slept way too much or sliced the dummy even more or practiced my hand-to-hand combat on the punching bag I had. That got pretty badly abused too.
Suddenly, when I least expected it, Zelda showed up at my door. "Link, dear," she said with concern.
I glared venomously at her. "Get out, Zelda. I'm in no mood to talk."
"What has gotten into you," she asked exasperatedly. "Get over it already. Stop acting like a child."
"Get out of my house, Zelda, now!"
"What are you going to do," she asked, with the slightest trace of a mocking tone in her voice.
"You don't want to know."
"Sure I don't," she continued.
"Zelda, stop right there."
"No," she said, uncharacteristically smug. She crossed her arms and smirked at me, only angering me further. I lost some restraint.
I reached for my sword, only to frighten. I failed.
"Would you really use your sword on me, the princess of Hyrule, but more importantly, your beloved girlfriend?"
I snarled, "Don't make me do it. Be a good girl and leave my house. I'm not in the mood to see you."
"You'd kill the princess? That's punishable by death, you know," she said daintily. She gave a last laugh then walked out the door.
The next few feelings followed in the span of about five minutes. I stared as she left, mouth open in shock. Then I began to feel more anger due to the sting in my pride from her mocking. Finally, I began to cry. I couldn't take it. I knew Zelda was right, about everything, but I couldn't do anything about it. I collapsed on my bed in tears, a rare occurrence for me.
The next thing that happened nearly made me jump. I heard Zelda's voice speaking in my head. That's right, she said soothingly. There may be nothing you can do alone, but there is something you can do if I help you.
You've never done this before, I thought. Why start now?
I can feel auras of those close to my heart. Yours was an absolute mess. Link, please don't push me away. I want to help you heal, help you get over it.
There's nothing you can do. More tears spilled out of my eyes.
You'd be surprised. I know more tricks than I tell you.
And what will help?
It's risky but I can take the pain out of your memories, transfer it to myself, then transfer it to a bin for disposal. It's like changing water.
What happens if something goes wrong? I was beginning to like this idea of Zelda's.
The best-case scenario is that I just get depressed and then it wears off eventually. Worst-case is that I screw up, leaving you with some of it, and only taking some, leading to my own agony. It may be as bad as suicidal thoughts. Impa taught me about this technique and told me of its risks. But she said that successes are very beneficial for the person on whom this is done.
Let's try it.
Come to the castle immediately. Tell the guards that I have requested you personally.
I'll be there in 20 minutes.
(A/N) Chapter one is done. Hope you enjoyed it. What happens next? Will Zelda succeed in helping Link or will they both suffer? Stay tuned to find out. Please review. Thanks :)