A/N: Short angsty thing for my newest Canon x OC pairing c; What can I say, I'm a sucker for sad things.
Watching Over You
The fight is over. Calamity Ganon is gone and Zelda is free from her hundred year prison. Everything should be peaceful and happy - but it's not.
Zelda looks at the Hylian Champion and reaches towards him. Yet when her fingers try to touch Link's shoulder, it goes through his form like he's not there at all. Tears glisten in the corners of her eyes as she realizes Link gave everything he had in the fight against Ganon - and by everything, she means every ounce of strength his body possessed.
Now, blue will-o-wisps dance around his frame and a sad, yet peaceful smile rests on his features. The Champions who fell before him gather around Link; Revali, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa. He looks at each of them and gives a small nod before looking back at Zelda. The tears hidden gather in crystal droplets before falling down her cheeks, and she makes a motion to touch Link again, knowing it to be pointless.
Yet this time, her fingers clasp around his shoulder, and a startled gasp works its way from between her lips. Link reaches and interlocks their fingers for a brief stint before letting go. The hero of Hyrule turns on his heel and walks towards those who gave their lives to stop Calamity Ganon a hundred years ago - they begin to disappear, one at a time, before Link is left standing alone.
He looks over his shoulder Zelda one last time, lips curled to a content smile, before his form twists and flutters away.
-w-
Zelda isn't sure how she's going to tell Elise of what happened to the one connected to her very soul. But she knows, deep down, she doesn't have to say a word. Elise would know the second Link left the world. The princess of Hyrule walks towards her, a sad smile resting on her countenance when she sees Elise's eyes shimmering with tears.
"I'm sorry," Zelda whispers, reaching forward. Elise lets her hand fall on her trembling shoulder as tears fall from her bright blue orbs. Her sapphire hair billows in the wind as she silently weeps, and Zelda feels her heart constrict. She may not have known Elise in the way Link did; she cannot even begin to comprehend the pain the girl is feeling at the loss of her beloved. But they can share their pain together.
Zelda moves forward to embrace Elise, but Elise doesn't respond to it. Her arms are dead weights at her sides, her entire body unmoving as she cries. The princess lets out a sad sigh as she runs her fingers through long strands, trying to soothe Elise in any way she can. But nothing would heal the scar Link's death left on her heart, her soul, her very essence. It's as if when the Hylian Champion departed for the next world, an enormous part of Elise died along with him.
"Come, let's go inside." Zelda lets her go to grab her wrist and gently lead her to the castle, where Calamity Ganon no longer rules. Elise lets herself be lead, her eyes downcast. Zelda swears to her departed friend, the one who protected her all those years ago, who saved her from Calamity Ganon's clutches, and most importantly, the one who became family, to ensure the woman he loved above everything would be okay.
It's the least she can do for him.
-w-
Elise slowly adjusts to life at Hyrule Castle. Her eyes are always shadowed and, dare Zelda say it, lifeless, but bit by bit, she's becoming more animated. The day she cast a small smile toward the blonde made Zelda do an internal happy dance; it showed her Elise is starting to overcome the grief of losing the only person she ever loved. She knows Elise will never be truly over Link's death, but the little smiles she offers people shows Zelda Elise is slowly becoming okay.
Not great, but okay.
And that's all anyone can ask for.
-w-
Years pass. Elise's eyes lose the lifelessness, but they still remain shadowed and downcast. But the fact she laughs, smiles, and returns to healing travelers and those who need it shows she's finally okay with her love's departure for the next life. Zelda knows she'll never be the same, despite what others may think. The loss of your soulmate, the one bound to you, is one she can't begin to understand. But she knows the heaviness in her own heart of losing her best friend, and it's bad enough. The fact Elise can even laugh is baffling to the princess, but deep down she knows Link is watching over them - over Elise.
She's seen his spirit, not that Elise knows she has. Zelda walked past Elise's room one summer's eve and saw a familiar, ethereal form, with blue lights dancing around him. She saw Link wipe away stray tears from Elise's eyes and kiss her softly; she was even more surprised by the fact Elise could touch him. Her nimble fingers clung to the fabric of his Champion's tunic as they kissed, her other hand weaving itself in Link's blond strands.
Zelda didn't see what else happened; she felt as if she was intruding on something far too personal and precious, so she walked away as quietly as she could. But that's how she knows Elise is going to be okay. She doesn't know how often Link comes to visit her, yet seeing the girl tuck a lock of sapphire hair behind her ear, she knows everything will be alright in the end.
Fin.