Heartbreaker
by Queenie Z

Part Two

That night, as the terror and angst in Link's heart came to a head, so too did the nightmares that plagued his sleep.

He opened his eyes to find himself staring up at the ceiling of what was unmistakably the Temple of Souls, where shadows twisted and bent in ways they never should and where the Dark Sorceress' madness seeped from every nook and cranny. He felt himself pinned, lying helplessly on the ground, bound and gagged by the malevolent roses he had come to detest. He tried to speak, to cry out for someone - anyone - to come and free him from his bonds, but the thorns around his neck and inside his mouth merely dug deeper, causing him to grimace in terrible pain.

Terrified, his eyes darted across the room, from one unsettling painting of himself to the next, dreading what was to come. Like a sea of storm clouds, her memory loomed ominously over him in all of his dreams - and, like the tides of a hurricane, she threatened to swallow him whole, tearing him apart from the inside out.

"Well, well..." Link felt his stomach churn at the sound of her voice. "Look who we have here. I trust you're comfortable, Love?"

Hesitantly, he turned his gaze upwards, and he gasped when he finally caught sight of the witch's sinister grin, the crazed look in her eyes sending shivers down his spine. Cia seemed to notice this, and she let out a curt laugh at his terror.

"Haha... Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" she chuckled darkly, "How quickly the courageous Hero of Legend succumbs to his own darkness!" She stood, the sound of her staff clacking on the stone floor echoing through the room as she began to circle him. "...Though you're certainly no stranger to that, are you?"

Link let out a weak, muffled cry of protest.

"But it was different then, wasn't it? Back then, you only had your own ego to fear. Back then, you were completely ignorant of the sin you had committed." Cia stopped in her tracks, turning her head to narrow her eyes at him. "But now... now, you know that sin better than anyone."

The young hero clenched his eyes shut, attempting to deny this vision of the sorceress by shutting her out; however, the grip of the roses tightened over his face, and they forced them to open again.

"Tell me, Link," asked Cia, turning to point her staff accusingly at him, "how does it feel, knowing that you were the cause of all this? That the blood of hundreds, thousands, is on your hands?" She scowled, and the shadows in the room seemed to do the same. "This entire war could have been avoided - if only you hadn't taken my heart and crushed it in your hands...!"

At that, Link's blood turned cold, as though her words drained whatever remnant of pride or denial was left in his heart. Then, to his horror and chagrin, the vision of Cia lowered her staff before kneeling on the ground, taking his face in her cold, slender fingers.

"You vile man," she hissed, her expression an unnatural mix of tenderness and hatred, "you, whose eternal, valiant soul caused a poor, lonely woman to go mad..." She dug her fingernails into his skin. "Do you have any idea the pain you've caused me!? Do you even know the kind of monsters you create!?"

Tears began to sting Link's wide-open eyes, and he whimpered pitifully.

"A man like you," said Cia, her voice laced with barely contained rage as she lowered a palm to his chest, "deserves no love, no hearts that he can merely toy with as he pleases!"

Link let out a muffled cry when he felt her hand burrowing into his body, seeking to destroy his heart - just as his guilt and fear had been doing all this time.

"You may think yourself in a nightmare, Link," she cackled madly, "but even when you wake, my memory will never leave! As long as you have a heart to break, I'll make sure you never love again...!"

As his screams grew louder, as the witch's crazed laughter again filled his ears, Link could see his world growing dimmer, feel his pain growing stronger, feel his guilt weighing down every fiber of his being... Then, suddenly, unexpectedly, he saw a tiny glimmer of blue light in the distance.

"...nk... Link! Goddesses, please, help me hold him still..."

When he next opened his eyes, Link was back in his chambers, back in the commanders' quarters of the barracks he now called home. Though he had just woken up from the single most terrifying dream he could remember, he felt strangely... calm, almost. While his brow was still drenched in sweat, he felt no tremors, his heartbeat had slowed; even his initial shock and terror seemed to be subsiding, much to his relief.

Dazed, he looked down to see a hand pressed against his chest - not Cia's, but a familiar friend's, whose powerful magic created a bright blue glow upon his nightshirt.

"Ah..." He looked back up, his senses finally returning to him, though he wasn't quite sure if he could believe his eyes. "La...na...?"

Lana looked up from the spell she was casting, blinking slightly before breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness," she said, lowering one hand from his chest and closing the tome she held in the other. "I - I wasn't sure that would work..."

Link reached up to touch the area that she had focused her magic on. "What... what was that?" He gulped slightly. "What was I doing...?"

"You were having a night terror, Link," said Lana, standing up from her place at the side of his bed. She frowned sadly as she continued her explanation. "Whatever nightmare you were having, it must have been horrible... You bolted upright, screaming, and when you began to claw at yourself..." She closed her eyes, shaking her head before smiling again at him. "I thought that my healing magic might counteract your adrenaline and lower your heart rate... I'm just glad I was right."

Lifting the sleeve of his shirt slightly to see that, indeed, he had left several salient scratches on himself, he looked guiltily off to the side. Perhaps, in his delirium, he had tried to claw away the hideous, non-existent "roses". "I'm sorry. That must have scared you..."

Lana giggled. "Don't be sorry! Trust me, I've seen much scarier, eheh...!" After a short pause, however, she took a quick glance at the open chamber door, and she placed a hand to her mouth. "O-Oh, right, I hope you don't mind - you were yelling, and I figured you were in trouble, so I... unlocked the door..."

Link raised a hand dismissively and smiled to the best of his ability. "No, no, it's okay. I understand." He sighed, slumping slightly as he did so. "...Thanks, Lana. You really helped me out there - it's good to see your face after that... awful..."

Lana watched as he tightened his grip on his clothes. For a second, he shuddered, as though trying to block out the horrible images that had haunted his sleep. Then, he finally returned his attention to her.

"...Nevermind. So," he said, tilting his head curiously, "what are you doing here, anyway? We haven't seen or heard from you since the war, and now you just - show up in the dead of night?"

Startled slightly by his question, Lana paused, biting her lip as though considering what to say. During the short time he had known her, Lana always seemed to know exactly what was going on, so her sudden hesitance struck him as somewhat odd. However, soon enough, she shut her eyes, holding her tome to her chest as she explained herself.

"...Now that peace has returned to Hyrule, I have to continue my duty where Cia and I left off."

"You mean, watching over the balance of the Triforce?"

She nodded. "While I was away, I used my power to check up on everyone." Her lips curled into another small smile. "You, Princess Zelda, Impa, all of our allies... I wanted to see how you all were doing, if only from afar."

Link couldn't help but feel touched by her concern. "I don't blame you," he said. "If I had that kind of power, I'd do the same."

Lana continued. "One day, when I looked into the crystal, I saw a vision of you with the princess. Your aura seemed to shine so brightly when you were with her... you seemed so happy..." She then tensed, clutching her tome more tightly. "But then... a shadow appeared, consuming you from within. And that shadow... took the form of Cia."

Stunned that she had so easily seen his troubles, even from so far away, Link simply gaped. He saw how Lana's fingers began to tremble and heard how her voice quavered when she resumed speaking.

"You love the princess... but the memory of what Cia did to you won't let you love her. You blame yourself for her evil deeds, for the entire war that resulted, and now you're afraid to ever fall in love." She inhaled in an attempt to calm herself, then looked him resolutely in the eye. "As Cia's other half, I have to take responsibility for the pain she's caused you. So I... I came here to help you."

"...Lana..."

Setting her tome aside, she knelt at Link's bedside, taking his hand in hers. "I want you to listen to me, Link," she said, her narrowed eyes forming tears at their corners. "You've done nothing wrong. What Cia became, what she did in the name of her twisted jealousy - you are not to blame, not for any of it."

Link's face fell as Lana's tears began to slide down her cheeks. "But... Lana..." He glanced down at their hands. "I was the one she loved... the one who broke her heart... the one who caused her pain - "

"Her pain -" she stopped herself, then shook her head, "- no, our pain, had nothing to do with you. You didn't ask for this war! You didn't ask for us to fall in love with the Hero!" She hung her head in shame. "...No one asks for love they can't return. It just... happens. And for those of us who want what they can't have, that pain is ours to bear, and ours alone."

Clenching his eyes shut, Link swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. How could he have been so stupid? Lana and Cia were once one in the same, so of course they would have held the same feelings for him, the same pain... But Lana's words, her absolution of his guilt, touched him deeply. He could only imagine how hard it was for her to act so selflessly in the face of such heartbreak, but the fact that she was here, giving him the blessing to love freely that her darkness had tried take away from him, meant more to him than she could ever know.

"...I wish neither of you had to bear that pain," he said quietly, covering her fingers with his other hand, "but... thank you, Lana. Thank you so, so much."

Lana looked back up to him with a tearful smile. "You've done so much for our world, Link. More than you know - more than you'll ever even remember during this life." She let go of his hands and stood, turning away to wipe her eyes. "You deserve nothing but happiness."

"But so do you," said Link, reaching out to her slightly. "...Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

The sorceress sniffled. "I'll be all right. I'll find my own happiness - somehow." She took her tome from the table she laid it on. "...I should be going."

Link's eyes widened. "But you just got here!" he said. "Don't you want to stay a while? Zelda and Impa, all the men at the barracks - they'd be ecstatic to see you again!"

She shook her head. "I don't want to make this more complicated for you than it has to be. And, to be honest... I don't know if I'm ready to face them all again, after what Cia - what we did."

"...I see." Link looked down at his bed sheet for a moment, then back at his friend. "Then, later, maybe? When you are ready?"

Lana pondered his offer for a long, silent moment. "...I'd like that," she finally answered. "I'd like that a lot."

With that, she began to leave - however, about halfway to the door, she seemed to perk back up.

"Oh, right! One more thing. About Princess Zelda..." She took a breath, twirled around, and struck a classic, Lana-style victory pose. "Go get her, Tiger!"

For a second, the young hero blinked in confusion. Then, he began to laugh - yes, there was the Lana he knew and loved! He gave her a thumbs up. "Haha... All right! I'll do my best!"

Her cheeks flushed a bright pink at their antics, Lana erupted into a fit of giggles. "Hee hee! Good!" She began to bound away merrily. "...See you later, Link!"

After waving her goodbye, Link turned his gaze to the matted bouquet of carnations on a nearby table. His thoughts turning once again to his princess, he wondered whether or not he should attempt another confession the next day. Of course, he knew his fears and anxieties would not disappear overnight, and the twinge of dread he had grown accustomed to was still there, but perhaps - just perhaps - his dear friend's faith and forgiveness could give him the confidence he needed to try.

"...And you're sure you're not going to back out this time? Really sure?"

Link laughed slightly at Proxi's incredulous tone. "Actually, no, I'm not really sure," he said, resting the slightly wilted yet still salvageable bouquet on his pauldron, "but I'm a little more sure than I was yesterday."

Proxi sighed. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing," she said, flying over to rest on the rim of his hate. "But all I'm saying is, if you don't want the money you spent on those flowers going to waste, today's gotta be the day!"

"I know, I know," said Link, reaching up to give her an affectionate touch with his fingertip. "Thanks for talking to me, by the way - I don't think I could have made it up the tower again without you to calm my nerves."

Proxi giggled. "Hey, what are friends for?" She looked ahead and noticed the princess' chamber door. "Oh, look! There it is!" She fluttered away, hiding herself inside the leaves of a nearby potted plant and hushing her voice slightly. "Right, you know what to do, Link - woo her like you've never wooed anyone in your whole life!"

Link let out a bashful chuckle at that - well, he thought, that wasn't going to be too difficult, what with his lack of wooing experience to begin with. "Er... right." He turned to head once more to Zelda's chambers, only to be stopped by another remark from his partner.

"Oh, and Link?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

"...I'm sorry about yesterday," said Proxi with a twinge of remorse. "If I'd known just how scared you really were - "

Link waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it," he said. "You didn't do anything wrong." He resumed his walk. "...Well, here goes nothing. Wish me luck, Proxi."

"Good luck!"

Once he approached the chamber door, he lifted his hand to knock. Against his better judgment, his eyes wandered to the corner of the hallway once again; this time, however, he only saw the faint blue glow of a supportive friend. Then, with an exhale, he knocked on the door.

"Your Highness?" he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "It's - It's me, Link. Are you - a

The door opened, and inside was, of course, Princess Zelda, already fully dressed and ready for the day - indeed, thought Link, she was far more of a morning person than he could ever dream of being. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "Ah! Good morning, Link!" She opened the door slightly wider, giving them more space to converse. "What brings you here so early?"

"Well..." He quickly found himself slightly tongue-tied as he tried to suppress his quickening pulse - more successfully this time, as he quickly remembered the flowers he was holding behind his back. "I, uh," he slowly brought them out and showed them to her, "I wanted to give you these."

"Flowers...?" Asked Zelda, her eyes wide and her cheeks turning pink, which she attempted to hide by bringing a hand to her face. "They're... for me?"

Link gulped. "I was going to give them to you yesterday," he confessed, "but... something came up. They're a little dry now, but if you put them in water they'll - "

With a delighted giggle, Zelda took the flowers gingerly in her hands. "They're beautiful," she said. "I love carnations... how did you ever know, Link?"

"Ah..." He scratched his cheek, wondering if he should tell the truth about why he chose the carnations before eventually deciding against it. No, he thought, now wasn't the time to revisit old fears. "I didn't... know, per se, I just - I like carnations, too."

"I'll have one of the maids give them water right away," she said, seemingly basking in the glow of her present. "I bet they'll smell wonderful once they're back to health...!"

Seeing her enthusiasm, Link couldn't help but smile. "Haha, yeah..." He quickly glanced over his shoulders, then back at Zelda's graceful, slender hands. He knew it would have been improper to tell her his feelings right away - not to mention he still didn't quite feel ready to do so. Instead, he took a deep breath, and he held up his hand to her.

"...I was hoping we could go for a walk today," he said, his cheeks growing warm as he spoke. "There's a beautiful little hill out in the field that I wanted to show you. I... I think you'd like it."

The princess' gaze lowered to his hand, and she blinked, somewhat bewildered. "Link... is this...?"

Her hesitance caused him to panic slightly, and he began to lower his hand, attempting to sputter out a flustered apology. However, he froze with his mouth wide open when Zelda tenderly placed her hand in his, lifting it back up.

"Don't be so nervous," she assured him, her eyes shimmering affectionately. "I would love to go with you."

In that moment, Link could feel his anxiety melting away, and the cold, menacing hand of the black witch released its terrible grip on his heart. He beamed brightly; if this was going to be the way that Zelda would receive his love, with such gentleness and reciprocation... then perhaps loving her wouldn't be nearly as frightening as he thought it would be.

"We can hand these off as we go," said Zelda, cradling the bouquet in her free arm. "...Would you like to lead the way, Link?"

He nodded. "Of course, Your Highness."

She giggled. "You know you don't have to call me that anymore, right?" She stepped out into the hallway with him. "Just 'Zelda' will do."

As he lead her down the hallway and castle stairwell, Link's heart began to race once more - however, this time, it was not out of fear, but rather excitement. Yes, this was what love was supposed to feel like; blissful and free, not toxic and suffocating. Though he still feared the possibility of breaking her heart, of breaking anyone's heart, he was determined to never, ever let that happen.

With a silent prayer, he thanked his goddesses for his newfound freedom, for his princess, and for all of the wonderful people who had taught him to embrace love once more.