A/N: Hey again; I wrote this chapter as an extra for those of you who wanted me to continue it. XD Nothing much really went on; it was just pure fluffyness… LOTS of fluffyness.
Every day from that moment on, he would come visit me.
At dawn's break, at midnight… He would come no matter what the conditions were. If an angry cloudburst raged in the skies, he would grab his raincoat and already be rushing off to see me. If the hospital had been closed that day due to the holidays, he would somehow scale the building all the way to the 5th floor and climb through the window to greet me "hello."
And he would constantly bring me buttermilk sugar cookies. I always loved that part. Yet time and again he would claim that his cooking was "horrible," and every time he brings it up, I'd slap him across the face and call him an idiot. I never really meant it, of course. But I loved the way he would react every time I did so.
He would simply look at me and give me the cutest smile I'd ever see in my entire life. He would tilt his head slightly to the right and say,
"But I'm your idiot, aren't I?"
And I'd smile quietly to myself, nibbling vigorously on my delicious cookies.
Link… He had a special place in my heart that would never vanish. Even though I could never recall any of my memories I shared with him when we were younger, I feel as if I had shared a million lifetimes with him up until now. He was, you could say, so familiar and so vague at the same time.
My loss of memories had only been a simple obstacle in rebuilding our friendship. I had warmed up to him from the moment he had entered by hospital room that day, many months ago… I hadn't doubted him for a second. Who, after all, would come and visit me at dawn, bake me scrumptious buttermilk sugar cookies, and then admit that he had been the one that had stolen my pineapple at a certain picnic one day? (On a side note, he actually visited me once and brought me a replacement pineapple. It was really good, but then I realized the next day that he didn't mean for me to eat it—it was supposed to have been a souvenir… Oops.)
But enough about the past. Today was the day that I had finally made it out of the hospital after that tragic accident. For the first time in months, I walked (clumsily) beside Link over the marble pathway leading from the hospice… All of my "friends" had visited me—but evidently they only did so because they had to give me the illusion that they "cared." I knew better, though, and I didn't fall into their deceiving tricks. I gave them all simple and bitter nods and continued to walk beside Link—the only one there that actually cared about me, who was tightly grasping my arm to make sure that I didn't fall.
The sun shone down on my face, and for what seemed like forever, I drew in a breath of fresh air. I let it enter my lungs, my heart… I felt Link stroke a lock of hair back that had been covering my face, and I looked up to him and smiled. I was free. I was finally free. I could truly live again… And I had a real friend who would help me do so.
I was trapped in his sparkly blue eyes again, and that had been when my father, as intimidating as ever, walked up to me. As I stared at him with fear coursing through my very being, the most surprising thing happened: He smiled.
Link stepped back just a few steps so that he wouldn't get in the way in the father-daughter moment. Aww, he's so considerate. I realized he had let go of my arm, though, and I had a little trouble standing by myself.
"Zelda," my father said quite softly, "I'm glad you're well."
"Thank you for visiting me, Father," I answered, not wishing to meet his gaze. "I appreciate it. And I'm sorry for what I did before. I was—"
"No, Zelda," he interrupted me. "It was my fault, not yours. I realized my mistake. I shouldn't have yelled or… or slapped you like that."
"Why the change of heart, Father?" I had to ask. "Under most circumstances, you wouldn't tolerate my behavior."
He stared at the sky for a few moments.
"Someone persuaded me that teenagers will be teenagers. I was expecting too much from you," he answered. "And from now on, I will allow you to have more freedom."
His voice was serious and stern, but lighthearted in a way. My face brightened up even further when I heard his words, but I kept myself from bursting out in joy.
"Thank you," I merely said, and he nodded.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to return to my duties," he stated expertly, much to my dismay. My father smiled at me one more time and walked away, climbing onto his sleek black limousine and vanishing off into the distance.
I had always known that my father was a workaholic. He cared deeply about his nicely-running company—even more than he did for me, it seemed. But over time I had gotten used to his behavior. It was normal now. I hadn't expected him to stay for long, anyway.
"Zelda, let's go," Link said from beside me, and I turned to him. I knew exactly what he meant.
He lightly took my hand and led me away from the hospital, away from the others who were watching me go without a care. I noticed that some of them were giving Link and me strange looks, since they had no idea who he was in the first place. It was hard walking forward while looking backwards, and my legs were still weak. I struggled a bit and Link seemed to notice; he lightly nudged my side and looked at me. You can forget about them now, his gaze seemed to say. It's just us after this.
The beautiful silence between us was unbroken. There was nothing to say.
For a long time, I had never felt such joy. We walked through the twilit city leisurely, savoring each moment that passed by. The muggy heat of summer was already upon us, even though we were still trapped in the spring bloom that I never got to experience this year.
Before I knew it, the skies were dark and the streetlights were already on. I had gotten used to walking again, thanks to Link's help. But I still wouldn't let go of his arm, and I was sure that he had similar thoughts.
Walking… Just walking. I've always known that taking evening strolls were enjoyable, but taking it with Link just made them ten times better. Every time I looked at him, my heart swelled with pride—I had once been his very best friend. This guy, this purely amazing guy who could scale a 5-story building in seconds, was once my best friend…
But still, even now, there remained a small part of me that was filled with shame: You had forgotten about him. How could you have forgotten someone so important… someone so special in your life?
I always shook the thoughts away.
"Zelda, I'm amazed at how fast you can pick up stuff," Link suddenly said, knocking me out of my slight trance. He seemed to be so good at sensing when something was troubling me, and this was no exception.
"What do you mean?" I replied immediately.
"Well, you've only been walking for a few hours and you're prefect at it now," he answered with a smile. "I guess walking is a part of you that you would never forget, huh?"
Just like how you were supposed to be.
I guess he didn't exactly realize what he said, and I tried to hide my hesitation by looking up at the swiftly darkening sky.
"Yeah, I guess so. I've been walking all my life, after all."
"It's only natural that you can walk perfectly then," Link commented, "like a princess. But I wonder how fast this princess can run…?"
I looked at him, but he didn't meet my gaze. I knew he was up to something…
"Link, what do you mea—"
Suddenly, he let go of my arm (unfortunately), nudged me a little harder than usual, and took off in the fastest sprint I had ever seen.
"Tag! You're it!"
Of course.
I wasn't sure how fast my legs could take me at this point, but I just couldn't pass up a moment like this with him. A determined grin made its way onto my lips, and soon I was running after him as fast as I could (which actually wasn't that fast). I was laughing—purely, genuinely laughing—the whole way through. I noticed that Link had to slow down for me though, to give me at least a fighting chance to tag him back.
I was really surprised when I managed to, but it wasn't long until I realized that he purposely did that so that we could turn the tables on each other.
Oh, Link. You're so nice.
A little while later, I deemed that it was a really stupid move to tag him, because while I was clumsily running on the sidewalk, he was jumping on fences and climbing on walls just so that he could get me back—and he was doing all of those things while still going easy on me.
Was he amazing or what? I would've bet my money that he worked part-time as an acrobatic. Or a gymnast. Or a secret agent hired by the government. Or… Or a master chef who did stunts while baking cookies and stealing pineapples from the crowd. Something like that.
I realized, once the childish game of tag was over, that the whole reason Link brought it up in the first place was so that we could get there faster.
By "there," I meant the glade.
Nostalgia flowed over me right away. It was a breathtaking sight to see. Tucked away safely deep within an unknown forest, lit by the overhanging silver moonlight… It was a dream that I never wanted to wake up from. Especially when I had spent eight consecutive years visiting it almost every day.
I slowly fell to my knees and savored the sight. The spring lilacs bloomed beneath me. The harps of the cypresses stood tall above me, enclosing the glade into a natural dome. And at night, there were no fireflies here, but soothing, glowing corpse candles.
"Welcome back," Link whispered as he crouched down beside me. I nestled my head on the crook of his neck, and he wrapped his arms protectively around my shoulders. We said nothing in the moments that passed—like always, there was nothing much that needed to be said. We were both in each other's contentment, in the place where we had spent every day innocently with each other… In the place where memories lingered on.
His scent was intoxicating, and it filled my lungs with fresh vigor. Being in his arms was enough to keep me more than content, and with night looming upon us, I felt as if I could just fall asleep right in his tender embrace…
…
"Zelda."
His voice broke me from my drowsiness.
"C'mon, Zelda, don't fall asleep right now… Don't you realize how strange that would be?"
That was true.
Groggily, I removed myself from him and stared into his eyes. Sparkly, as always.
"What is it, Link?" I questioned, rubbing the (almost) sleep from my own eyes.
"You're fully recovered from that accident now," he stated, giving me a sympathetic look, "and you can finally live your life again."
He took the words right out of my mouth.
"So…" he continued, "…what now? What are you going to do, I mean?"
His question raised a few thoughts, and for a while I just stared at him.
"I… I don't know," I honestly replied. "I basically missed half the school year. I guess I'll have to retake it…"
"Or you could skip a grade," Link suggested. "You're that smart, anyway. It doesn't take an idiot to figure that out."
"I suppose I could," came my reply. "But skipping a grade now just means that I'll be back where I'm supposed to be."
"That's what I mean."
He smiled at me. I smiled back. It was normal now: he smiles, I smile. I smile, he smiles. We're like the two sides of a mirror. Sort of.
"But are you still gonna go to the same school?"
That surprised me a bit. It had never came to mind. But the answer was already clear; I never liked that school anyway.
"Of course not, Link," I answered, smiling as big as ever. "Why would I ever go back to that other school? You won't believe how much I hate it."
"So… You're going back to public, then?"
"No; I've decided that I'll live the rest of my life in isolation somewhere out in the Wildlands of Hyrule and home-school myself with a toothbrush."
He blinked.
"Duh, I'm going back to public school. Do you think I have any other options?" I leaned over to caress his cheek, and he wrapped both of his strong arms around me, bringing me closer to him.
"I'm glad to hear that, Zelda."
I felt as if a flower had just bloomed inside me, and I laid my head against his chest. I heard his heartbeat—"amazing" was the only word to describe it.
"…Link," I suddenly whispered softly to him. I emitted a pleasurable breath as I continued listening to that hymn-like beat.
"Yes?" His voice echoed throughout his chest, and it sent shivers down my spine—in a good way, of course.
"That day… The first day you visited me…"
"Mmm-hmm?"
"…You need to tell me what you were going to say to me back then. And I know that it wasn't the fact that you stole that blasted pineapple of mine that I couldn't even remember."
His heartbeat quickened, and I felt him worriedly shift. Ha, he's so cute when he's nervous.
"Not this again," he sighed, attempting to keep his uneasiness to himself. "We should really talk about something else—"
"No way," I insisted, like the stubborn little brat I was. "You blew it off last time, on the first day that I was awake, and now you're blowing it off again, on the first day that I've been out of the hospital." I secretly smirked. "You need to tell me, or I might reconsider going to that public school."
Now his heart was beating really fast. Wow, he must be really touchy about this or something. He released his hold on me and pulled me away a bit.
"You're not… serious… are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," I replied with a smug grin, trailing my finger down his neck. "I'll let you know if I'm serious or not once you tell me what you wanted to say."
It was sort of fun torturing him like this. Now I see why lots of guys end up dumping their girlfriends.
He stared at me with those innocent wide eyes for a while before mentally submitting to my trap. He sighed, and then brought his hands around me, dragging me forward again. I noticed his heartbeat calmed down a little.
"Zelda, you're so stubborn," he chuckled. His voice trailed off, showing his uneasiness. I was really hoping that he would just come out and say it already, because I obviously felt the same way about him.
Unless he was going to talk about pineapples again, of course, but this time he had no door to rush out of.
"Just tell me, Link," I responded. "I'm curious."
"Of course you are," he answered, trailing off yet again. Evidently he was searching for the right words.
"Come on; you're boring me…"
"Am I?"
Of course not, Link. I'm just trying to get you to tell me sooner…
"A little bit."
I'm such a little liar.
He sighed.
"Zelda…"
"Yes?"
Hopefully nothing interrupts us this time.
"I've known you for a really long time, and…"
"And…?"
He brought me away from him again, allowing me to meet his gaze. I could tell he was now more nervous than ever, since he keeps on bringing me in and then nudging me away and then bringing me in again, only to end with him prodding me away… again.
"…And I…"
The suspense…!
"…I…"
I felt like I was watching a happy horror movie. Although that wasn't the best way to put it.
"…"
What? He stopped saying stuff—
Oh, Nayru. He's kissing me.
Kissing me.
And it was wonderful.
I felt his warmth… His vigor. He had me planted on the ground and was giving me the best kiss I've ever experienced… I felt as if I was walking with the Goddesses… No… It was better than that.
I forgot all about the accident… I forgot all about my father… My friends… I forgot about the glade we were in, and how dark it was in the sky… I forgot everything…
…But I remembered him.
However, like all good things, the kiss ended. Link broke away from me—quite reluctantly, I might add—and for the longest while we looked at each other as if living in a dream.
Tears of joy and awe were about to sprout from my eyes. But I couldn't let him see me cry again… I jumped into his arms and listened to that familiar heartbeat…
"…Zelda…"
I could barely hear him in the midst of my blissful weeping.
"…I love you."
Time stopped, and I felt the heavenly work of the Goddesses coming into play. My heart exploded within my chest, and I was pretty sure that his would, too, if he listened to what I had to say next.
"…Link…"
He held me tighter.
"…I love you, too."
And it was there, in that moonlit glade, that my memories were finally complete.
A/N: Again, I hope you liked that extra chapter! I'm sorry to say I can't continue it anymore after this, though! Please review if you ANYTHING to tell me! 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 Extra – Completed June 17, 2010
