Across the Universe
Chapter Two – Pygmalion (Part Two)
Midna stared down at the eyes she grew to love. The blue of the seas just after a storm; the soft, silky hair that fell gently over his eyes; it seemed suddenly unreal to her. A dream. A painful, mocking dream. She closed her vision and retreated deep into her soul, trying to calm the torment she held within. He couldn't exist here, could he? Did he?
'How…' She thought, feeling tears start to drown her heart. 'How? How can he be here?'
Worlds within worlds… the voice returned with a smiling tone, as if it knew the sudden importance of the situation and found it amusing. What if your entire universe was simply a speck in the world of another? It's an interesting thought… don't you think? There was a long pause as Midna continued to watch the young man look up at her with a look of complete awe. He was watching her as if he knew who and what she was, and wanted to help her.
'Please, Link… remember me…'
There was a feeling of sweet amusement in her chest again. Only you can make him know who you are, Midna. That is your quest.
'But how am I to figure it out when I'm trapped inside stone?' Midna wanted to glare, but her face would only show a look of complete pleasantness. How absolutely revolting.
You need to discover that by your self. Your heart will find a way to his own, I'm sure of it… The presence retreated again, this time rather abruptly, and Midna again felt bereft. How long had she been in someone else's company? How often was it that she was without someone to talk to? Now, standing here in a coffin made of stone, she was utterly alone. Trapped inside an invisible case only watching, never speaking.
Not for the first time that day, she felt the tears rip up through her heart and into her throat. And deep inside the slumbering stone, she wept.
"Mr. Link?"
He started slightly and looked over at the woman with crazy hair, feeling suddenly ashamed at his behavior. She was beautiful as a piece of art, not as a being. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Jansen… I was just… admiring her." He raked his hands through his hair, as though he were in complete distress.
"Well, I'm glad you think she's beautiful…" The woman sighed and shook her head as Link's eyes returned to the statue. He was getting to be rather spacey lately. "Let's sit down, I need to have a talk with you." She sat down on an empty bench and patted to the spot next to her.
Link sat down, never taking his eyes off the statue. It was almost as if he needed to look at it, to know that it was simply a statue.
"Your grades have been slipping, Link… not just with me. My colleague says you haven't turned in any of your research papers." She watched carefully as Link suddenly retreated into his shell, blushing brightly and forcing himself to look away.
"I know… They're done… I've just been busy…"
"With what?" Mrs. Jansen stared at him, knowing full and well that she could stare a student into a catatonic stupor if need be.
"Other things…" Link looked away, not as his teacher, not at the statue. Either one would rip apart his soul. "I'd prefer not to talk about it."
Mrs. Jansen simply nodded, knowing not to press a student. There was a brief pause as Link began to wok on his sketch, but she continued to speak anyway. "If I'm not mistaken, Link, you need this credit to keep your scholarship." She paused and felt the air tense painfully around the young man. He was obviously worried about failing. "This will be a good project to bring your grades up." She stopped and glanced at his page, curious about his work. "She's sad?"
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jansen…" He jumped out of his reverie and pulled the sketchbook into his chest, feeling quite ridiculous at this point. "I was at work until late last evening and I'm just a little out of it… but I promise I'll work hard the rest of the semester." He began to sketch purposefully, appearing as though he didn't want to talk to his professor anymore, which he didn't. She was a little too nosey for her own good.
'She does look… sad…' Link looked up at the pleasant face of the statue and realized, painfully, that the woman was sad. Bereft. Empty. Crying violently. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her and let her know that everything would be fine, that she would be safe and protected. He shook his head and turned back to his page. It was a silly thought, and he needed to get it out of his head. After all, wasn't she just a statue.
'Midna…' he sighed slightly. 'What a funny name.' He looked up at her again and felt his heart grow strangely warm. A feeling he hadn't felt since… since his mother passed away several years ago. He was always kind, polite, genuine, but rarely did he open himself to love. Rarely did he let anyone into his heart. But a silly statue made his whole body blush with anticipation, as if he knew something amazing would happen in her presence.
'I wonder what her name means… This is ridiculous. It's just a statue.' He tried to turn away but there was something emanating from every nerve in him, that this woman was not just a statue, but something more. Something he should know and remember and embrace. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed again, feeling suddenly confused and torn between two things. He shook his head and went back to his book.
Not surprisingly, Link sat there for hours, his sketchbook filling slowly with her weeping face. He stayed after his class left, through lunch, and after the sun had gone down. He sat there and stared at her, drew her, animated her into existence in his mind. He was entranced by something so simple, so pure, so… true.
"Museum's closing soon, boy…" Link started and looked up at the face of a security guard and nodded. "You've got to leave. You can always come back tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Link gathered his pencils and paper slowly, waiting for the guard to leave the room. He walked up to the statue and sighed. "Who are you? Why do you torment me?" He looked up into her melancholy face, the one only he saw and touched her foot gently, as if promising her something private and wonderful.
"Tomorrow…" He whispered. "I'll see you tomorrow." Smiling softly, he turned around and began to leave, wondering whether he would see her again. His world, however, came to a screeching halt when he heard an audible gasp from behind him; as if someone had been holding their breath under water and had just come up for air.
Link stopped, impossibly still and afraid to turn around. His heart pounded against his ribs and his stomach was turning inside out. He was aware that strange things always happened around him. People knew his name when he had never met them, he had never broken a single thing in his life, and his reflexes were strangely fast. But what he was considering now was…
"Link?"
He turned around and stared into fire red eyes.
"Impossible…"
"LINK!" The door slammed open and Lanna stood there, her face flushed with worry. Link looked up, startled by her intrusion, and slightly frightened by her approach. "Good, goddesses, Link! Have you been here all night?"
Link quickly shoved his parchment underneath all the letters, trying to hide a blatant blush starting to cross his face. "I'm sorry, Lanna. I couldn't sleep. I came here to read and I must have lost track of time." He looked out at the rising sun and felt his heart suddenly sink into his stomach. Was he late to his own coronation? He looked at Lanna, whose every hair was in perfect place, dressed flawlessly, and glaring at him as if he were the devil himself.
"You're late!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him out from behind the desk – rather painfully. "I've been looking for you in all your usual spots, but it the library! Honestly Link, if I didn't hear that silly quill you'd still be in there and missing your own coronation!"
"That wasn't my intention, you know." He watched, smiling, as his little spitfire dragged him down the hall and into their chambers. As dominating and stressed as she could be, Lanna
was still a sweet woman, and every part of his heart. How had he managed to find her in the midst of the chaos around him? "It was an accident."
"I know you're giving me the look of a sick puppy, and I won't have it!" She didn't turn around, but stomped her foot slightly.
"Why not?" Link asked coyly. "It usually works."
Lanna finally turned and glared at him before throwing thir chamber door open and tossing his body into the capable hands of his servants. "Thirty minutes!" She told them, starting out the door. "He's got thirty minutes before her needs to be in the Grand Hall with a crown on his head or I wear I'll cook him live!" She stopped quickly in the mirror and checked her reflection before heading for the hall again.
"Lanna!" Link called out suddenly, peeling off his night clothes. Lanna stopped and looked at him with a mixture of confusion, surprise and mild curiosity. There was a strange silence as he approached her and before he spoke. "I love you."
The blush he had fallen in love with worked its way up Lanna's neck, and in the midst of all the distraction and chaos, her temper faded and she smiled at him. "I love you too."
"I'll be down in a few minutes… I promise."
Lanna nodded and headed out the door, trying to hide the blush her husband always evoked. She started down the hall at a slower pace than normal, letting her mind slowly wander through the years, as it often did when he said those words to her. Few royal families were as lucky as hers. Daughters were looked on simply as tools for political gain: whose son has a big plot of land I can marry my daughter to? Her own father had thought that way. It just so happened that Hyrule was the most desirable kingdom in the entire nation. So it seemed that her father couldn't wait to push her out the door.
But Link… well, his mother had always taught him that love, above all other things, was the most important piece of life. It was just as essential as air, food, and water. He loved her; told her constantly that he loved her; showed her every day how much his heart still needed hers. Even though she was swollen with child and often looked unkempt and disorganized, his heart still beat for her alone.
She blushed again, feeling very much the same as a silly school girl.
AN: So in my own happy mind I had Midna out of this world by now… as you can see, she's still there. I had a conflict of interest as I realized I wanted to get this chapter out as quickly as possible, as I will be leaving for the weekend. (Gentlemen, when you grow up, for the love of all things good, please become involved in your children's lives. It's because of slacker dads that I don't have a male chaperone for the youth retreat… so who has to watch the boys? Me. And I am not happy about it.) I'm off my soapbox now.
Anyway, I assume Midna will have moved onto the next world by the end of the next chapter… hopefully (I'm just making this up as I go). And the world after this one is a doosy. Har har.
Leave a review, it fixes problems and makes later chapters better. I heart you!
