A/N: Hello! This is just a quick little oneshot set in modern-day. It's serious at first and gets lighthearted later on, just to warn you! :) Plus I just realized that FanFiction won't allow you to put "?" and "!" together, so some parts of this story might be a little off because of it. Enjoy anyways!

DISCLAIMER: "The Legend of Zelda" and all rights, including the copyrights of the games, scenario, music and program, reserved by Nintendo. TM and (r) are trademarks of Nintendo. All rights reserved.

-Of Lost Memories-

"We do not remember days, we remember moments. The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten."

-Cesare Pavese

When I first woke up, the first thing I realized was that I was in a hospital bed. My body was sore and numb, and with that sensation, I felt as if I had just been hit by a raging car. I couldn't move my arms or legs. My vision was blurred, and my breathing was rugged.

…Maybe I really did get hit by a raging car.

I looked to my left and saw the radiance of dawn's light peeking through the window drapes. The light cascaded down the walls of the plain whitewashed room with such beauty… And at times like this is when you can really be grateful for it.

It was quiet and serene here, in the hospital room. A great place to recall memories… And the memories were already flooding back to me.

Midnight… It had been midnight when I was in that accident. My father had scolded me for staying out late with a few of my so-called "friends." He had yelled at me tremendously with that intimidating voice of his. He had slapped me for challenging him. I had been covered in tears when he said that he forbade me to ever see my friends again. I… I rushed out of the mansion and ran out into the street…

I had been careless.

As I lay motionless on my bed, the sensation of sadness suddenly washed over me. What had I done? My father would be furious… And in the quiet of the room, I had started to weep tears of sorrow again. I was certain that he no longer respected me. My actions were unacceptable.

What would he do…? Kick me out… He would kick me out of our mansion. Such behavior would simply not be tolerated in our wealthy bloodline… And my father was a man of hardly any lenience.

The tears sprouted again, and I cried with all the sadness in my heart.

But the minutes passed and my crying never seemed to cease. That is, until I heard the doorknob lightly turning from the corner of the room. With strained effort, I tried as much as I could to quiet myself. I acted as if I had been still asleep.

Footsteps were approaching me. It was probably the nurse, coming to check on me to see if I was doing alright.

I heard a soft breath beside me. There was a pause, and then there was a sound as if a chair was being pulled across the room. I guess the nurse wanted to sit beside me.

Then I felt a hand tenderly touch my cheek, and my heart jumped. Maybe it wasn't a nurse after all.

But who could it be, then? Surely it couldn't have been my father… He barely cares about me anymore, and his hand is much bigger and rougher than this one… It could possibly be one of my friends from last night. Or… no. It couldn't have been them. I had found out that they had only strived to have to friendship with me for my money…

"Zelda."

My heart jumped again. That voice… That voice was familiar. It was a male's, and sounded sincerely concerned. Who…?

"I… I know we haven't been in touch for a while, but… When I found out what happened, I just had to come."

The mystery… I couldn't figure out who it was. His hand trailed from my cheek to my own hand, and he grasped it tightly. I could feel the texture of his fingers as they weaved around mine. Sadly his palm was covered in cloth… He was wearing gloves, most likely.

"And… I know you can't hear me right now, but… Zelda, I…" he was hesitant now. "…I don't know what to say. I told you that I'd always be there for you whenever you needed me… I'm so sorry, Zelda."

He'd always be there whenever I needed him… I felt him squeeze my hand even tighter, and he drew a deep breath.

"That truck that hit you… It was going… pretty fast," he whispered uncertainly. "They said that you might not make it, with your injuries and all…" Another pause. "Zelda, please don't die… I… would be devastated. Your friends, too."

My friends. Yeah, right. But maybe he—this strange visitor—had been my friend once in my childhood. I just couldn't remember… And he really seemed to care about me.

"…I've been praying to Nayru lately," he continued. "Your patron Goddess. I've been wishing for your recovery. I don't know if she's been answering my prayers, but…" he chuckled a bit, surprisingly, "…if she ever does come to you—in your dreams, maybe… don't turn her down on whatever she offers, okay?" He paused yet again. "…Oh, and I've left you some buttermilk sugar cookies for when you wake up. I know it's your favorite snack. I hope you don't mind my horrible cooking…"

At this point, this guy was really digging into my heart like a ray of hope. Who was he? He knew that my patron Goddess was Nayru and that my favorite snack was cookies… Buttermilk sugar cookies. Nobody could possibly know me that well… Still, I remained silent and tried my best to stop the oncoming smile that was breaking onto my dried lips.

I felt him gently let go of my hand. There was a long silence just then, and for a moment I was afraid that he might've left the room. But after concentrating a bit more, I could hear his soft breathing beside me, and as he shifted his weight on the chair, I heard him sigh.

"…Zelda, a long time ago, you and I were best friends…"

So we were best friends. Surely I had to remember someone that had been my best friend…

"We spent almost every day together. Don't you remember?"

I tried to take in a deep breath, trying to recall my memories, but all I noticed was the warm smell of those lovely buttermilk cookies.

"…We had a lot of fun together, you and I. Remember that little glade we used to play in all the time after school…?"

That glade. I think I remember that glade. I used to go there almost every day and play "Princess-and-Hero" with… with someone.

"…Zelda, every day with you was amazing… I can't describe the joy I felt whenever I spent time with you. Running through the forest… Playing tag… Catching fireflies when it got dark… But these things seem to be left in the past now."

Catching fireflies… I was certain that I had always done that alone.

"They were really simple things, really, but… But when I did them with you, an hour would seem like a minute."

He paused.

"I wish we could go do stuff like that again sometime. Which was why I came today. I had to tell you something… Something important that I've never gotten the right chance to say."

Again, a hesitant pause.

"Zelda…"

I swallowed, trying to control the pace of my heart.

"…I…"

Here it comes. Whoever he was, he was going to—

"…have to go."

Wait.

What?

What?

What?

My eyes unknowingly popped open at that moment, and I looked to my right immediately to find my visitor turned against me, placing his chair back to the corner of the room. I studied him carefully—he had a nice build, dirty-blonde hair, and was wearing jeans and a jacket (with a shirt underneath, presumably).

He seemed to stare at the corner for a while, as if in some kind of trance. I took this moment to try to remember who he was… He seemed so familiar.

Within moments, he had turned around and was staring at me right in the face. His sparkly blue eyes were wide and he looked like he just survived a traumatic experience. I simply stared at him back, knowing I couldn't undo the fact that he had realized that I had been awake the whole time.

He was probably relieved that he didn't admit his feelings towards me when he had the chance.

"…Zelda," he said, his voice low, shaky, and a bit uncertain, "you're awake."

I stared at him for a bit more, my focus on his eyes. So familiar… so familiar! Why couldn't I remember?

I seemed to hesitate for too long, and he broke the short silence by speaking again,

"…Did you hear everything I said?"

I gave him a slow and simple nod, not knowing what else to do. He studied me for a while with a solemn face before he reluctantly said yet again,

"…You don't remember me, do you?"

My breath caught in my throat, and I gazed at him with a helpless look on my face. The way he looked at me when he said that… It was enough to make me burst out crying. Again.

Understanding my situation, he closed his eyes and looked away. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and seemed to take a lot of time thinking about his next words, since I clearly couldn't make any.

"The doctor told me you might've suffered some… memory loss."

My eyes went wide, and he looked at me with a sad smile.

"But… that's okay. I still remember you. I still remember all that we've been through. I still remember… all the times we shared together…"

His words made me choke in sadness. What was wrong with me? He was here, giving me all of his best feelings and I can't even remember who he was! I… I would've slapped myself just then, but the soreness prevented me from doing that.

Before I knew it, my visitor was standing beside me again, looking down at my pitiful self with the most cheerless smile I've ever seen. His messy bangs covered up his eyes a little bit, but I could still see the raw emotion that was reflected through them.

"Zelda," he whispered softly, grasping my hand once more, "it's me. Link."

Link.

I expected a big flood of memories just then—and it seemed like he did, too—but nothing came up. Nothing. Not even the slightest sign of reminiscence.

When he realized this, he gave me an apologetic look and grasped my hand even tighter. The smile—sad enough as it was—died on his lips and he looked away, locked in his own sorrow.

I was… I was so useless! Why couldn't I do anything right? I was killing him on the inside… I needed to make him better, somehow. I strained my vocal chords and managed to utter his name in the most pitiful way possible.

"…L-Link…"

He turned to look at me faster than I could blink. He paused for a while to see if I would say anything else. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.

"I… I'm sorry…" I muttered, my voice barely touching a whisper.

"Zelda, don't be," Link replied warmly. "It's not like you purposely ran in front of that truck, right?"

I was silent. Before I realized it, tears were streaming down my face again. He had let go of my hand and his arms were now carefully wrapped around my neck.

"Zelda?" he asked me, worry pulling at his voice. "Zelda, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He slid his hand over my cheek and looked at me with the most concerned look…

His eyes… were so… beautiful…

"Zelda!" he called out to me again, sounding desperate. "Tell me why you're crying, please! Did I… did I do something wrong?"

I held in a painful plea of distress and managed to ignore the burning pain in my arm, bringing it up to caress his face.

"Link," I managed to say in the midst of my weeping, "I'm sorry… I—"

"You've already apologized, Zelda," he responded.

"No," I answered back, "that's not what I mean… I'm sorry for not remembering you…"

He stayed silent.

"…It was my fault for getting caught in that accident," I whispered regretfully as I watched the memories fly by. "It was my fault for dragging you here."

"But that was a good thing," Link countered with a sympathetic smile. "Dragging me here, I mean. I finally got to see you again. After your dad sent you to that private school, I had no idea how we could keep in touch."

I smiled, but my expression quickly faded, and I continued,

"…I was stupid. I stayed out too late with those good-for-nothing friends of mine, and my dad scolded me when I came home. I was really upset…" I paused, letting out another choke of sorrow. "…I ran out of the mansion. I ran into the street, just so that I could get away from him… I was crying so much that I guess I didn't see the truck coming."

Link comforted me and stroked my hair gently. He was about to say something, but I beat him to it.

"If I wasn't so foolish, I would still have remembered those times of when we were younger. You're so familiar, but… I just can't remember. A distant memory, from a lost time…" I looked away and sighed. "…That's what you are. And I hate it."

I didn't want to meet his gaze, so I closed my eyes. I felt him shift beside me, and he undid his arms from my neck, much to my disappointment. He was… warm.

"It's okay, Zelda. It's not your fault. If it makes you feel better, I blame it on the guy that ran into you, since he was too blind to notice such a beautiful girl."

Unconsciously, I opened my eyes and saw him smiling down on me again. I was flattered. He thought I was beautiful. Even though countless other guys had also said so, I knew that they had only wanted to get my attention. When Link said it, I was certain that he said it with all of the sincerity in his being. And just like that, he had lifted my spirits to uncontrollable levels.

Now I realize why we had been such close friends back then. Link was just so easy to talk to, so enjoyable to be around… Even now, by simply being in his presence, I felt raw peace swelling inside my heart.

Yet it still burdened me how I could not remember him.

"Speechless?" he joked. "I thought so." Then he gave a more serious look, much to my dismay. "Zelda, it's okay that you don't remember me… Really. One side of the memories is all that we need. Besides, we could always start over again. We can start things new. Once you recover, that is."

He smiled again. I smiled with him.

"I can tell you all about the things we used to do before," Link continued. "We used to go explore the forests all the time. It was really fun."

I listened intensively to his words.

"One time we wandered too far, though, and we ended up crossing a swamp. I decided to go jump logs—you know, like in the movies—and you kept on yelling at me to come back."

I giggled, and he seemed pleased that he was making me smile.

"And then, just like in the movies, I ended up jumping on an alligator of some sort… It almost ate me alive!"

I laughed some more. The tears were long gone.

"It's such a shame I don't remember…" I said. "But now I have you to tell me stories, right?"

"Right," he replied warmly. "And then we can make new stories of our own. After all this time of wondering where you've gone to, Zelda, we can finally be together again. Just like before."

Just like before… Those words pulled strings in my heart. For a while I said nothing more to him, and we looked at each other as if it was the only thing in the world that we could milk joy out of.

Though it had only been an hour since he first came into the room, I felt as if I had just been rescued from a tragic death. Link had sparked new interest in me, and it was because of him that I no longer felt regret of my mistake.

"Thank you, Link," I said softly to him, showing a light smile in the process. "Thank you for coming. And for everything you've done for me, both today and in the past."

"Anytime," he answered in return, leaning over to caress my cheek again. "I have to go soon; the nurse said I was on a strict time limit." He gave me a smile before standing upright. "Enjoy your buttermilk sugar cookies."

"I will," came my response. I had almost forgotten about those.

He reluctantly turned away after that. My heart was pained to watch him go, but I knew that he must.

And then something occurred to me.

"Link, wait," I called out to him right before he could step out the door.

"What is it?" he replied, walking a few steps closer to me again.

"…What was it that you wanted to tell me but 'never got the right chance to say?'"

I flashed a smug grin at him while he gave me a hilariously awestruck face in return. After finding no immediate response from him, I asked,

"Well?"

"…It's… it's nothing, Zelda," he insisted quite nervously. "You can go back to sleep now. Bye."

He turned around and walked briskly to the door. But I couldn't let go of him that easily.

"Link, come back!" I called to him again, and like a good obedient friend, he grudgingly returned. "Come on, tell me!" I said firmly with a pleading look.

He thought about his words for a while.

"If you really want to know that badly… I guess I'll tell you."

Score!

"Zelda… I…"

Yes? Yes?

"…I was the one that stole that pineapple from you all those years ago at that picnic. Okay, bye!"

He rushed out the door before I could even react to what he had told me.

Curse you, Link. Curse you, because I don't even remember anything about that pineapple.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review if you ANYTHING to say! It doesn't matter if you just want to say "hello!" Oh, and in case this story becomes like 3 years old or something sometime in the future, don't be afraid to review anyway! I'll always gratefully accept reviews! :D

-Eternal Nocturne-

Of Lost Memories – Completed June 16, 2010