It had hurt too much to even look upon the small village. It had hurt too much to even begin imagining stepping foot back into the place he had once called home. Yet here he was, cupping his hands around his mouth to try and warm them as he looked down at the small farming village.
He had stood there on that ridge for what felt like hours, watching life go on down below him, without him. The cold autumn wind felt as if it blew right through him, as if it was chilling his bones and freezing the blood completely still in his veins. His longer, dirty and unruly hair blurred and obscured his vision, whirling in his eyes and face until the wind stopped for the briefest second. And in that brief second, when the wind settled and he could see, he saw more than he had wanted to see in what had been his home.
He saw his friend walking down the beaten path that he had walked many times himself on his way home. His friend, too, was on his way home, and he stopped and greeted the man he had once called his adoptive father, who was with his adoptive mother and younger brother and what could have been his younger sister, all of whom were content and happy and smiling. Goddesses, he could not even remember the last time he had smiled. It hurt so much to watch this going on, and it hurt even more when he turned his gaze the slightest inch to see the village children laughing and running, playing in these last few minutes before the sun completely set from the sky. Nayru have mercy on him, it hurt so much.
And then of course he had to see her.
Her of all people, the one woman who was his best friend and had never once betrayed him and let him down as he had done to her. The one woman who he could say that perhaps he felt more than just friendly affection towards, yet he knew it could never be returned. The one woman whose smile could stun him frozen in place, whose laugh could make his knees weak, whose bright green gaze could render him helpless. And he saw her walking towards her father, the mayor, the man who promised him the chiefship of Ordon whenever the goddesses called his name, who had always been there to encourage him and to praise him for his hard work and goddesses the pain was horrific.
He could not tear his blue gaze away from the scene in front of him, this scene of absolute peace and contentment as the day grew old and the night was born. He knew he could not go down there: they would recognize him despite the state he was in, and when they did, they would cast him out, drive him out, curse him for being the monster they knew he was. The beast they knew he was.
He slowly but surely broke free of the freezing agony and turned away after what felt like an eternity, shakily stumbling back into the vast woods of Faron as the sun finally sank behind the green hills of Hyrule's Ordon.
Not once did he look back.
... I keep writing Link being kind of angsty. In fact, pretty much all I've put on this site is angsty stuff. Ugh.
I'll try to write some happier stuff later on. I just wanted this idea out of my head and onto virtual paper.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and all its characters (c) Nintendo