Okay, last year sucked. Not gonna lie, I had an awful time. More details in the bottom AU. But enough about me. This is an idea that I came up with that- to my knowledge- hasn't been done before. It'll be long, drawn out, and mostly ad-libbed. But I hope you enjoy my new personal project and vent mechanism. It's called "Unrequited," and you should be seeing it a lot. You should also be seeing a similar type of style in another story I'm coming up with, which is based around "Detroit: Become Human." Details in the bottom AU on what exactly the plan is, but you don't care about that right now. As always, I do not own Legend of Zelda, neither its characters, ideas, so on and so forth. Please, enjoy….
UNREQUITED
A Legend of Zelda Story
God bless, JPLegends
PAIN
"May I ask? Do you really remember me?"
Link thought about that question every single day. And he has had a lot of days to think about it. It has been four months since Calamity Ganon had been sealed away in a brilliant flash of golden light by the Princess, Zelda. And considering everything that had happened up to that point, Link felt a massive weight lifted off of his shoulders at that moment.
He had put so much effort into battling the hordes of Calamity Ganon's creatures, foiling the Yiga at every turn, and ending the oppression and near extinction of the goron, the rito, the zora, and the gerudo. Link had put so much effort into preparing, praying, and finally fighting the evil incarnate. So when it was over, Link was relieved. And although he is a warrior by trade, he was more than happy to help Zelda rebuild Hyrule back into its former might and prestige.
So much responsibility, so much effort. But none of it compared to that one damned question.
"May I ask? Do you really remember me?"
Link had been asked that question many times over the course of his adventure. The Ghost of King Hyrule had asked him, Impa had asked him, Purah had asked him, the King of the Zora asked him, and finally Zelda. And every single time, Link felt a twang of guilt that he could never remember a specific face. Especially in the zora community. Those people lived much longer than hylians, and many remembered Link from childhood to adulthood, and from adulthood to elderly age. Link always felt disappointed in himself when he saw the faces of the people who knew and loved him so much in the past. And then, they learn that Link doesn't remember anything.
None of that compared to Mipha. And how crushing it was to Link.
Link teared up looking at the Lightscale Trident, strewn up on his wall at his home in Hateno Village. It belonged to Mipha, of the zora. Mipha, who loved Link a century ago. Mipha, who planned to marry Link when this Calamity Ganon mess was over. Mipha, who died when Calamity Ganon had returned.
Mipha, the Champion of the Zora. Who Link could not remember at all.
Words could not describe the complete and utter dread Link felt when he learned everything about Mipha. He spent an afternoon in an inn, a complete wreck. When he liberated Vah Rutah, it was even worse. Link was too stunned and ashamed to speak, watching and listening to the Spirit of Mipha. She radiated love and compassion, and seemed so in touch with her fate being dead. However, Link- being really good at deciphering emotions for some Goddess forsaken reason- could tell Mipha was in an insane amount of pain not being able to interact with Link properly. She couldn't touch him, she couldn't be with him. It pained her deeply, and Link could tell. And- almost like fate- Mipha would heal him whenever he fell in battle. Every single time he felt the healing warmth, he longed for Mipha to be back in his reality. Every time he rose from battle, Mipha speaking softly in his ear, he wanted to lock fingers. He wanted to reach out and grab the ornate jewelry she owned on her arm. He wanted to say something. A thank you, a bad joke….
An apology.
Link never got his chance. After Calamity Ganon fell, Mipha's Grace was lifted. Mipha's spirit had moved on. And now, Link was alone. No memory of those closest to him. Repentance so close and almost achievable, to be stripped away. And along with that hope, memory.
"May I ask? Do you really remember me?"
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Zelda thought about that question every single day. And she's had a lot of time to think about it. Even now as she was scribbling away in her notebook at her study, she was thinking about why in the Goddess' name she ever asked that question. She tried to shove that frustrating piece of dialogue to the back of her brain, instead focusing on what she was supposed to be doing. Establishing patrolled trading routes between the zora, hylians, and sheikah so that there were less Yiga attacks on the caravans. But as she was writing about the specifics of this one forested route, she made the same typo three times in a row. After the third error, she crossed out the word "saef," the misspelled version of "safe" so hard that it tore a hole in the paper she was writing. She put her quill down, and leaned back in her rickety chair, her hands over her eyes. She could feel the dim candlelight burn lukewarm a short distance away, giving her ruined surroundings a sense of familiarity.
Since Calamity Ganon was sealed away, much of the first month was spent setting up ties between Hateno Village, Kakariko Village, Zora's Domain, and all the stables in between. As such, people agreed to start a residence in Hyrule Castle Town once Link and a couple of volunteers- like Prince Sidon and the rito warrior Teba- cleared out the area. The integration was admittedly slow, but once the newly established hylian civilization had their legs under them, they were more than happy to start remaking a society. With little guidance from Zelda, the villagers started producing materials in excess, sending out convoys to negotiate with stables or the other races, and- although the military experience was slim, a militia was quickly formed. These soldiers would defend the people that needed defending, and also helped clear out some of the ruins in the countryside. They were unprofessional, but once Teba saw potential, he was happy to start training the hylian military.
Zelda was fine with not being needed to lead at the moment. She necessarily didn't want it in the first place, and her position as "queen" wasn't official yet. So much to do. While the hylians started taking care of more hylians, she and Link were hard at work talking to Zora's Domain and, most recently, Goron City. They were always on the move while working out trade, military, and land details. Although it helped that the producing hylians had managed to clean up Hyrule Castle Proper. Here, in her recreated room and study high above the ground, she could plan, write letters, and think for her people. Although thinking was often the most dangerous part.
The castle, although admittedly in better shape than it used to be for the last century, still did not feel like home. It never felt warm enough, it never felt complete, and by the Goddess, it sure didn't feel safe. And it didn't help that after all this time of rebuilding, exploring, and forging, Hyrule still felt unsafe. There were still the remnants of Ganon's forces roaming the landscape to worry about, and until they could properly talk to the rito or gerudo, they had no way to properly deal with the Yiga clan. While the zora and gorons helped with trade, production, and sometimes muscle, the roads were still very unsafe. There was no guarantee that the already established villages could hold on their own properly either, with the population being stretched to compensate for regrowth.
And unsafe surroundings led to unsafe thoughts.
"May I ask? Do you really remember me?"
Why did she ask that? Why in Hylia's name did she ask that?
Rhetorical question. Zelda knew exactly why she had asked that question, but she knew that she's above said reason. She had spent so long enveloped by Calamity Ganon's malice, hatred, and rage, watching the landscape burn to ash. Watching her people being slaughtered indiscriminately. Watching everyone she knew and loved either die in the fire of the Calamity or in some hovel waiting for a hope that wouldn't come in generations. She was subject to grief, hatred and suffering for so long that the years blurred together, and although she didn't remember every detail of being trapped for so long, she remembered being perpetually cold, tired, hungry, and tearful. For a century. All in the hope that Link would save their home.
Link, the man that she had fallen in love with before the Calamity. He had saved her life, and before that, he had stuck with her through thick and thin. Even when she was, frankly, really disrespectful of him. Zelda eventually grew to know Link as the man he truly is: a hearty, loyal, courageous young man who would put his life on the line over and over again for a just cause. Zelda started forming a tight friendship with Link, and that friendship turned into closeness. And then that closeness turned into a schoolgirl crush.
Not too long after, Zelda got to see firsthand just how devoted Link was to his princess. He faced a Guardian head on, wounded and bleeding out. Zelda managed to protect him, but he passed out in her arms, his last moments trying his best to keep awake. In a last ditch effort, Zelda placed Link in a Slumber of Restoration, hoping he will come back reinvigorated. Zelda knew that he would lose his memories, but it was the best shot to save him, the kingdom, and herself. In that order.
After watching Link and his journeys to save the people of Hyrule, as well as fighting by his side to seal away Calamity Ganon, she was so happy to see him again. She had spent a century, suffering in darkness and hatred. And now, she was free and face to face with her knight. Her light. She was so ecstatic, she had to ask him that dreaded question….
"May I ask? Do you really remember me?"
That day, Zelda was met with a look of shame and regret. Although Link confirmed that he had a large assortment of his memories back, it was hard for him to fill in a lot of the blanks. And although he tried his best to hide his emotions, Zelda had known him for a long time. She knew that he was hurting, and that look of shame never left his eyes whenever they met up to talk strategy, military, or just casual conversation. She felt as if the Link she knew was gone, hidden underneath a mask of stoicism and depression. And with all things, she felt as if it was all her fault.
Zelda took a deep breath, and leaned back into her notebook. She tried to shove the thoughts of shame, regret and sadness back into the recesses of her mind. She misspelled "Yiga" five times.
"May I ask? Do you really remember me?"
Okay, details. So, as of the last year, I've suffered two deaths in my family, and life in general has just kinda been sucky. I've been unloading all my stress into a personal project, which I will NOT be talking about. But know that it's something new, it won't be on FanFiction or any other website, and I will not be using the pen name "JPLegends." I should have been paying more attention to this account, and I feel like I alienated a lot of people when I cancelled my Steven Universe story. It was just really hard to get back out there and keep at it with my writing. I just wasn't inspired and didn't want to keep going. But here I am. There's not going to be any guarantee that things will be 100% consistent, but I'll try my best and keep at it. As for "Unrequited" and the new Detroit story, these are designed to be things that I can work on without much thought while I work on the bigger projects, like Fallout, Destiny (I've had to make a lot of fundamental shifts to Destiny), and the one behind the scenes (which you will not be seeing any time this century). Enjoy "Unrequited," and enjoy the newer, higher quality me.