Heartbreaker
by Queenie Z

Part One

He had always said that his favorite place in the whole of Hyrule Field was the grassy knoll located about two miles to the south of the castle; though the surrounding landscape still bore scars from the terrible war that waged a mere six weeks earlier, Link was stunned to find this particular sunny hill almost completely unscathed. As such, he found it beautiful, a small haven of peace free of the constant reminders of battle and bloodshed. It was here that he often liked to retreat when his busy schedule allowed him to, and it was here that, one day, he had hoped to bring Princess Zelda.

He sat on the ground, his knees drawn and his eyes closed as he listened to the elegant sound of the Goddess Harp, the princess' most treasured possession. Before they met, he had no idea that their kingdom's monarch had such a talent for music, and it was one of the many little traits she possessed that endeared her to him. Once the music stopped, he opened his eyes, turning his head to the right and smiling warmly.

"That was amazing," he said, his voice laced with quiet admiration.

Zelda giggled at his compliment, then lowered her harp as gracefully as she had raised it before. "Thank you, Link," she replied with a bright smile of her own. "I wrote the piece myself."

"You did?" Link asked, blinking slightly as he rose to his feet. Then, realizing how his question must have sounded, he swallowed, glancing away slightly and scratching the back of his head. "Uh... that's not to imply that I didn't think you could write it, Your Highness, I just..."

The princess laughed once more, this time at his flustered reaction. "Of course not! I know you better than that." She tilted her head. "And, please, call me 'Zelda' - after all we've been through together, I wouldn't think formalities would be necessary. Don't you agree?"

He could feel his cheeks begin to glow, and he turned his gaze back to her, nodding sheepishly. "Ah... yeah... I guess so..."

For a moment, the two fell silent. Link's eyes began to wander once more to the wildflowers littered about the area as Zelda's turned towards Hyrule Castle in the distance.

"...It truly has been so much," she said somewhat solemnly. "Peace may have returned to the kingdom, but it would be a mistake to say that everything is back the way it was."

The young hero didn't answer her; he didn't need to, he felt, since anyone could see that she was absolutely correct. Nothing had been the same since the war ended. He had changed, and perhaps moreso, his feelings had changed, though in more ways than one, and not necessarily for the better.

Biting his lip, he felt a wave of anxiety wash over him, as it always seemed to lately when his thoughts turned to his princess. He was certainly no fool as to what the warmth in his chest and the fluttering in his stomach meant, but those feelings, which he should have found exhilarating, were laced instead with a terrible sense of dread. Of course, he knew it would solve nothing to stay silent and stew in his dilemma, but he also couldn't help but wonder whether telling her - a prospect that made him shudder to think about - would perhaps lead to something even worse.

"Link?" Said Zelda, turning back to him when she noticed his silence. "Is... something troubling you?"

His heart racing, Link inhaled sharply; then, he clenched his eyes shut. "Princess..." he managed to mutter, "Zelda... I... I think I - "

His words were cut short as he felt a sharp pain around his neck; he let out a choked gasp as something cold and sharp began to strangle him from behind. He panicked, reaching for the tendrils that were suffocating him, only to find that they had bound his wrists as well.

And that was when he finally saw them. Roses, snaking and sprouting all across his body, burrowing their thorns into his skin like barbed wire - roses that he had come to fear to the point of loathing. He tried to cry out, to tell Zelda to get away, but her shrieks of terror were quickly drowned out by a low, familiar voice, dripping with malice and venom with each word it spoke.

"Fool," it spat as a hand clasped over his mouth, its fingernails digging into his cheek, "did you really think I'd let you give your heart to her...?"

In an instant, Zelda's horrified expression was swallowed up by darkness as the roses blinded his sight, all while the voice cackled gleefully in his ears, piercing his skull and wracking his brain, until -

"Link!"

A shrill voice caused Link to gasp and bolt upright; his breath heavy and his brow covered in sweat, he quickly touched his neck and looked at his wrists. Of course, nothing was there, and aside from the tiny shriek that startled him awake, the chirping of birds, and the rustle of grass, all was silent upon the knoll.

Once he had reasonably calmed himself, he let out a deep sigh, and with a shaky hand he wiped his face. He then heard the tell-tale twinkle of a fairy's wings, and he turned to see Proxi, bobbing about wildly in worry.

"Aah! Geez, Link! Don't scare me like that!" She stopped, fluttering closer to Link's face to get a better look at it. "...Hey, what's the matter with you? You're as grey as a ghost!"

Link winced at her approach. "Ah... um..." He wiped the last bead of sweat away from his chin, and he scooted away from his fairy friend. "It's - It's nothing, Proxi. I'm fine."

Proxi let out an exasperated, anxious groan. "Nobody wakes up like that when they're 'fine'!" She pulled away slightly. "You were having nightmares again, weren't you?"

After a slight pause, Link finally answered honestly. "Yeah."

At that, Proxi's tone softened somewhat. "...About the war?" she asked, "Or, Cia, maybe?"

Link clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. "I don't feel like talking about it."

"But..."

"Please, Proxi."

She sulked a bit - as much as someone her size could sulk, anyway - then sighed. "Alright," she said, "but - try not to keep this sort of thing bottled up!" She flew over to rest on his head. "It's not healthy, you know?"

He smiled slightly at her concern. "I'll... keep that in mind," he said - though in truth, he wasn't entirely sure how to explain the whole thing to himself, much less to anyone else. He would have told her that it was merely the shock of war that a number of Hyrule's soldiers now had to struggle with, but in truth it was much more than that. For now, he could only describe his feelings as a bewildering cross between love and fear... or, perhaps, a fear of love itself.

"...Well, in any case," Proxi said matter of factly, "you do remember that you're leading the new recruit training today, right?"

The young hero blinked. "Oh! Right! That is today, isn't it?" He lifted his hand and allowed his tiny partner to fly into it. "When was that supposed to start again?"

"In about half an hour."

"Ack!" With a grimace, Link shot to his feet, quickly adjusting his hat as he did so. "Dammit, why'd I have to fall asleep like that, anyway? Of all the days..."

"Just be grateful I found you in time!" Proxi began to fly ahead, only to stop and turn back towards him. "Oh, and don't forget to go buy flowers when you're done!"

Link froze in place, his face falling at her reminder. "F," he gulped, "Flowers... right... I remember..."

"Hey, come on, don't make that face! You promised you wouldn't chicken out this time!" She resumed flying back towards the castle. "You know, for a Legendary Hero, you sure like to clam up when it comes to pretty girls...!"

He grimaced again at her ribbing - sure, she had meant it in jest, but given the dream he'd just had... He decided to brush aside the thought, however, and he placed his fingers to his lips, whistling for his horse that had wandered off to graze as he slept.

It still boggled Link's mind to think that he would be training new recruits mere months after being a rookie himself - Hero incarnate or not, he still couldn't believe that he had managed to earn the respect of his fellow soldiers so quickly, and even now the title of "Commander" seemed far too glamorous for the short length of his service. Regardless, he welcomed the opportunity, for it gave him a means to take his mind off of his inner turmoil for a few hours.

Once the recruits had been dismissed, however, the anxiety he had felt earlier began to rear its ugly head once more. He tried to delay his planned meeting with Princess Zelda for as long as he could, but after being nagged by Proxi a bit more, he eventually caved. Of course, he couldn't exactly blame his partner, for he had entrusted her with the responsibility of making sure he confessed his feelings after numerous failed attempts over the past week or so. Maybe, he thought, if he could simply pretend that the agonizing, gut-churning fear wasn't there, he could actually bring himself to do it.

It should have been so easy, he thought - after all, what was a confession of love next to the threat of apocalypse? Fear should have been nothing to him, and yet now he felt more deathly terrified than he had in weeks. He simply couldn't understand how his thoughts of this compassionate, strong, intelligent, amazing woman could cause him so much dread when they should have brought him joy; and yet, that was exactly the kind of war that was waging inside his own head.

Bathed and groomed, with a bouquet of pink carnations gripped tightly in his hand, Link returned to the castle, his eyes set stalworth upon the princess' tower. He knew that perhaps roses would have been the more romantic choice as per custom, but to him, they were anything but. Their crimson petals reminded him of bloodstained ground, and their thorny briers evoked a feeling of being trapped, as though they threatened to entangle his very thoughts. Indeed, the carnations seemed much less threatening, as asinine as such an idea was, and he simply hoped that Zelda wouldn't mind his break from tradition.

As he climbed the steps leading up to the princess' chambers, he tried desperately to dispel any negative thought that went through his mind, but the tasked proved ever more exhausting with each step he took. His feet began to feel heavy, and he began to feel his own heart pounding in his ribs. At times, it even seemed as though the staircase was longer than it actually was - ridiculous, he knew, and he attempted to console himself by the fact that it was simply his nerves talking.

Finally, finally, he reached the top of the steps, and he dragged his feet down the hallway to Zelda's chamber door. Be brave, be brave, be brave - over and over he repeated this in his head, but all of the self-encouragement in the world could not help assuage his crippling anxiety. When he reached his destination, he lifted a trembling hand to knock; he froze, however, when he saw the silhouette of a slender young woman creep into the corner of the hall.

At that, Link paled, and memories of the sorceress who had plagued his nightmares came rushing back to him. As he finally gave in to his body's urge to flee, as he dashed down the hall and nearly collided with an approaching castle maid, he could almost hear his own terrible thoughts in the sound of the witch's voice.

"Wretched man," they hissed hatefully. "Selfish, loathsome, despicable man. How can you even live with yourself? Heartbreaker."