Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.

Soul Secrets

Chapter 10

The thunderous knocks on her study door had Zelda jumping in her chair, her attention having been riveted on the documents in front of her. They were written in such a complicated legalese that she, despite all the tutoring she had received from Impa in such language, was honestly stumped on what exactly the document was proposing. All she could tell was that it involved cuckoos, a farm, and some very dubious-sounding business ideas. She'd had half a mind to actually grant the sender an audience so she could get a straight answer. Despite the loud interruption, she was grateful for it.

"Enter," she said, taking a sip of her wine while her other hand inched towards her cane. In theory, no one would have been able to get past her guards and reach her study without being someone she trusted, but in her experience it always paid off to be careful.

The door more or less slammed open, hitting the wall with a loud crash, and in stepped a fuming Tira Siress. Zelda was at a loss for words—one, because it was Tira, whom she'd explicitly told to take the day and night for herself, an order she never disobeyed, and two, because it was Tira, who rarely allowed emotions to cross her face unless she knew she was surrounded by people she trusted. But there she was, panting and glaring straight at Zelda.

"Tira...?" Zelda said slowly, unsure of what to do. Her guards outside the door were giving each other curious glances. Wordlessly, Tira reached for the door handle and slammed the door shut, which left Zelda's ears ringing slightly.

For a few moments, Tira simply stood there, staring at the door she'd just closed, shoulders rising and falling with her breath, quietly muttering as if she was trying to talk herself down. Then she turned to look at her princess, and Zelda almost gasped at the sheer fury that was barely contained within her bodyguard and lover.

"I found the factory," Tira said, voice strained.

Heart plummeting, Zelda forced herself to remain impassive. "Factory?" she asked. "What factory?" She tried to sound innocent, but Tira knew her better than almost everyone else...only Link and Sheik could claim to do so, and Tira knew when she was lying.

"Don't try," the warrior said, stepping up to Zelda's desk. Despite the ultimate trust between them, Zelda was glad Tira didn't have her weapons on her. The woman was absolutely terrifying when she was armed. "Don't lie! I saw you talking to that man and giving him money! I followed him to the manufacturing district, and I saw what they were building!"

Tira paused there, and Zelda knew what she was waiting for: a confession. Zelda tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. Why hadn't she been more careful when meeting the foreman? She should have made sure Tira was gone before doing it...and briefly considered clinging to the lie, even though she knew there was virtually no chance of Tira believing it.

"I...I didn't..." was all she could force out, face growing red with shame and guilt. She hadn't seen Tira like this since the war in Lumina, when she'd integrated the remaining members of the Legion into her army.

"Cannons? Airships? You saw what these things did in Lumina!" Tira shouted. "And now you're building them! I thought you sought peace!"

"I do, I just—"

If only Tira would understand!

"What, are you going to conquer the world?! Can't imagine you going for defence with the numbers they were producing!"

"Tira, listen to me—"

"I suppose you got a taste for it in Lumina! The way your eyes lit up on that damn ship, it was like you'd been to the Sacred Realm and back! Were you imagining the opportunities for war with it, even then, or did the idea strike you only recently?!"

"I'm doing it for Hyrule, damn it!" Zelda shouted back, her patience snapping.

The exclamation made Tira pause, finally letting Zelda get a word in.

"Yes, I've been paying my manufacturers to design and build weapons! No, I don't intend to conquer the world! Yes, I got the idea in Lumina, but only as an after-thought!" She was panting now; the day had been long and exhausting and this screaming match wasn't making things any better.

They stared at each other defiantly, both willing the other to back down.

"Then why?" Tira finally asked, her voice quiet. "Why are you building them?"

Leaning against her desk for support, Zelda drew a shaky breath. "I had a dream—"

Tira sighed, pinching her nose to stave off the inevitable headache that always reared its ugly head whenever one of Zelda's dreams came up as a topic. "You said it was nothing," she said. "You promised."

"I make a lot of promises," Zelda replied. "Not all of them can be kept." Dropping back into her chair, she closed her eyes, recalling those awful, dreadful images she had seen.

When she was a child, she had considered the dreams a blessing—it was her chance to glimpse into the future and prevent the awful disasters they showed her. When she'd been unable to prevent her father's death, she had begun to consider them a curse. No matter what she did, she could never truly prevent the things she saw. Ganondorf had conquered and ruled Hyrule for seven years, despite her warning her father and pointing Link in the right direction on his quest, and Feror had nearly destroyed the world, killing countless people, even though she had done everything she could have imagined to stop it. This one, she was determined to stop at all costs.

"A war is coming, Tira," she said.

"War?" Tira said. "We have fought them before, we don't need—"

"This one will be different," the princess interrupted. "The world is still reeling from Feror's madness, and resources are getting scarce. The other nations are all equipping themselves with new weapons, the kind of which we can't even imagine...sooner or later, they will clash, and Hyrule will be drawn into the fight...we will be the biggest target. My people will be slaughtered if I do not meet their onslaught with one of my own, and if it requires the terrible weapons I myself have banned...then so be it." She glanced up at Tira, showing her the resolve in her eyes. "I will protect my people at all costs, Tira. At all costs."

Tira had deflated slightly, hearing this, but the anger was still there, the hurt of betrayal.

Zelda sighed. "And on top of it all...the stars..."

"The stars?"

"My dream showed me the entire world burning in the fires of war, the ground stained red with the blood of the dead...and overhead, the stars disappearing, one by one, until the only light left is that of the sun, which sets one night...and never rises, leaving us in perpetual, never-ending darkness, and a slow, agonising death..." She shuddered, the last image of the darkened world chilling her to the core. "I do not even know what it all means, and I cannot even speak to the Sages for guidance..."

"Princess..." The anger was gone from Tira now, having seen the genuine fear and sorrow in Zelda's eyes.

"If the world ends, it ends, and there is nothing I can do about it," Zelda said, her voice thick as she gazed up at Tira. "But my duty remains with my kingdom, and I will fight the entire world to save it, breaking my down damn rules, even if it's for just a moment." She bit her lip, dreading most of all what she was going to say next. She'd put it off for too long, and now it was difficult finding the words. "With Leonthal coming...I thought perhaps...the Storm Plains are strong militarily..."

Tira grew still, her entire form rigid and firm, like a sailor bracing himself for a wave hitting the ship in a storm. She knew what was coming, but she didn't want to hear it. "You...you're thinking of...of saying...?"

Zelda nodded. It was too hard to actually say the word. "It would...it would be a boon...to both kingdoms, I mean. And...and there would finally be a real chance of an heir...that would make Mother and Father happy, I think, wherever they are, and the council..."

Tira swallowed. "It...yes, I suppose...I should..." She turned and went for the door.

"Tira—"

"No, no, I understand, I really do," Tira said, not facing her. "It had to happen, it really did. It'd be presumptuous of me to think...I just...never mind." She gripped the handle. "It's never about what you want, is it?" she asked bitterly.

The door opened and closed yet again, considerably gentler this time. Zelda stared at it until her vision was too blurred to make out anything, and then let her tears fall. The room was suddenly far too small, the walls closing in around her, and all she wanted to do was to run after Tira and say something—anything—that could make it better...but what could? This was something that had to run its course...and she could only hope that time would eventually make it right.

It still hurt.

Sheik let out a contented sigh, snuggling against Link beneath the covers, his head resting on the Hero's chest. How long had it been since they'd simply been together like this? Too long, most definitely. They'd spent the first couple of hours...er...making up for lost time, as Link so eloquently called it, after which they'd simply lazed about, basking in the afterglow.

Link had told Sheik about the things he'd seen on his travels, what he'd done, and Sheik had in turn updated him on everything that was going on in Hyrule. They deliberately avoided the topic of Sheik's arm and the events at Blackbrook—they knew that Sheik would have to continue the investigation the second he got out of bed, and they wanted to make the most of the first moment they had to themselves in a long time.

Inhaling his lover's unique scent, Sheik leaned up and placed a kiss on Link's jaw, enjoying the smile that spread on the Hero's face as he did so. Link returned it, sending tingles down Sheik's spine. This felt...right. More right than anything else ever had.

"Goddesses, I've missed this," Link murmured, staring into Sheik's eyes; blue meeting red. "Been thinking about you every moment since I left..."

"Likewise," Sheik replied. "Had half a mind to make Kaiza peck you until you returned."

The Hero of Time chuckled. "That would leave me a bloody mess, even if I decided to come home the second I spotted her."

"Worth it, I believe," Sheik replied.

Link chuckled again and, with a small groan, stretched a little. "Ow..." he muttered.

Sheik grimaced. "I apologise."

"No, no, totally my fault," Link said cheerfully. "I've been riding a lot, and I did start it. Besides, it's a good kind of hurt. I'll probably be walking like you on that first day with the students, though..."

They shared a small laugh at that. Of course, Sheik had been anything but happy with the slight pain at the time, given that he had to give a serious lecture to his first students...which was difficult to do while limping in a way that left little to the imagination as far as the teenagers and the older children he was going to train were concerned. It had been a mortifying experience, but he supposed it had made him a bit more relatable to the students—he was a mortal being who fell prey to vices, just like them. He just wished they'd caught him drinking, or something less humiliating. Link had been quite frustrated for a month or so afterwards.

"So..." Link said. "How are the kids?"

"Progressing nicely," Sheik said. "Nikal and Eren are almost ready to graduate, along with several other of the oldest students..." He frowned. Nikal and Eren...he wondered how they were handling the aftermath of Blackbrook. Link must have sensed what he was thinking, because the Hero's hand began to rub his back comfortingly. Trying to keep such thoughts for later, Sheik focused on something else. "I caught Eren loitering around the girl's dormitory," he said.

"Oh?" Link said, humming. "Why?"

"What else?" Sheik snorted. "Teenaged boy, at the cusp of manhood...lots of girls his own age, just a door away..."

"Girls who would hold him down and slowly remove said manhood if he as much as tried to sneak in," Link continued. "I don't think you have to worry about Eren doing anything...improper. He wouldn't survive it."

"Still, worrying...fraternising in such a way could be a distraction. Impa—"

"All due respect to your aunt, there's nothing you can do to stop it," Link said. "They're old enough in the eyes of the law, and as long as everyone involved are in agreement...well, it's going to happen whether you like it or not."

Sheik nodded reluctantly. He didn't like or approve of it at all. The kids were his responsibility, and the idea of them...well, it left a bad taste in his mouth. He'd decided not to teach them the art of seduction precisely because of that...though he suspected that the students would have no trouble figuring that out once he unleashed them upon the world. Hell, he'd caught one of the male students with a lady of negotiable affection in Kakariko one night. That had been an awkward talk and disciplinary sparring session.

"Stop worrying," Link commanded.

And Sheik obeyed.

"Where are they now?" Link asked. "Eren and Nikal, I mean."

"In the city, somewhere," Sheik said. "Enjoying the sights and sounds of a capital in full preparation for robbing foreign dignitaries blind. I wonder what kind of trouble they are getting themselves into."

"Nothing they can't handle, I'm sure," Link assured him. "They've been taught by you, after all..." He paused. "On the other hand, given the state of you, maybe we should be worried..."

"Go to hell," Sheik growled, trying to roll away, but Link's strong arms kept him in place.

A small, playful tussle broke out, and Link emerged as the clear winner, careful as he was not to jostle Sheik and his injured arm. It ended abruptly when Sheik's sensitive ears heard footsteps approaching the bedroom, and the two quickly broke apart as a careful knock sounded.

"Uh...come in?" Link said after exchanging a confused look with Sheik. Surely Zelda was the only one who knew they were there...and she would never resort to such timid knocking, even knowing who was occupying her bed.

But it was indeed the princess who had knocked, and any questions or jokes they had about her less-than-grand entrance were quelled when they saw her tear-streaked face.

"Zelda?" Sheik asked, sitting up properly, making sure to cover his lack of clothing with the blanket. "What's wrong?"

Not saying a word, the princess kicked off her boots and threw her cane into a corner, walking towards the bed. She stopped at the foot of it, looking at the two of them, silently asking for permission. There was no hesitation from either of them, and they moved apart, opening a space between them. Sniffling quietly, she climbed into the bed and let herself be pulled into their arms and shielded from the world between them.

Then she let her tears fall anew, and her brothers held her tightly.

To be continued...

Surprise, another (sad) chapter!

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