Enjoy!
~Kuntakintae
Zelda
Zelda immediately knew that something was awry the moment Link stepped into the room. She didn't know how- Link's face was as impassive as usual and his body language gave away no clues at all-, but it was an instinct that screamed at her that Link was, at the moment, not in a pleasant mood.
She was, however, uncertain- after all, the Link in front of her was not exactly the same Link from a century ago. Her instincts may have been right last time, but in the present time, she had no idea if it was still as accurate- or if it had dulled and become outdated.
Her eyes followed Link as he walked towards the simple seat beside her bed and sat down, observing him carefully as he stared at the window in silence. The sun had already set a few hours ago, and the full moon hung brightly in the night sky- along with an entourage of twinkling stars that glittered prettily.
Zelda herself had been staring out of the same window just before he came in- having awoken from a long nap since the afternoon. Her thoughts had been trapped in the past as she had reminiscence over the time she had spent in the Zora domain a century ago, accompanied by the heavy and painful feelings that clawed at her heart.
It was the same sky, the same stars- but a different world, a different earth, with only bits and pieces of the past left for her to remember by.
His visit had brought her out of her gloomy mood, giving her a pleasant surprise. However, her uplifted mood had not lasted long when she realised that something was wrong with him.
Zelda waited, but even after a few minutes, not a word came from Link. Strangely enough, Zelda did not feel awkward nor did she feel as if the silence was out of place.
In the distant past, when they had traveled together in the wilderness, when their relationship had eventually improved and they slowly became each other's most trusted confidant, even then he had not spoken much.
Their time had either been spent in peaceful, comfortable silence, or simply just her speaking about everything and anything under the sun while Link silently listened with a small smile on his face, adding in a comment or two every once in a while.
But there were times when Link was especially quiet, and those were the times when Zelda knew something was wrong with Link. The way Zelda handled those times were simply to keep quiet, and patiently wait for Link to speak.
From experience, she had learned that trying to coax it out of him would only make him unwilling to share, while simply patiently being by his side and accompanying him in his silence would eventually lead to results.
So, she decided to do just that- like how she did in the past, she simply relaxed, kept quiet and shifted her gaze to the window once again, accompanying Link to stare at the sky in silence.
Her thoughts wandered, and a small, sad smile appeared on her face as she reflected on the past, and how much the champions had changed her, how much Link had changed her.
During her younger years, she had hated silence. When her mother had passed away, something in her father had broken, and he had stopped treating her like a daughter and more like a subject. She had had no friends to communicate with, no family she could confide in, nothing.
Most of her time had been spent in the quiet of the cathedral- praying and praying fruitlessly to a goddess that never spoke a single word to her, with nothing to gain and- she thought sadly- nothing really much to lose.
Her life from the time her mother passed away when she was five, to the time she met Link at the age of 16 had been filled with a lonely silence.
Then, out of nowhere, her four champions suddenly barged into her dreary life. The empty void in her heart, the gloomy silence in her life was suddenly shattered by the annoyed mutterings of a Rito, the gentle words of a Zora, the boisterous laughter of a Goron and the cocky yet caring voice of a Gerudo.
It was as though the goddesses had decided to finally be kind to her, and blessed her with genuinely caring and kind people to be friends with. She had re-established her slightly distant relationship from her surrogate mother Urbosa, made good friends out of both Revali and Daruk, and even became a sworn sister to Mipha.
With Link, however, it had been much more shaky. She had started by hating him- he was a living reminder of her failures. Whilst her relationship with the other champions improved dramatically, her relationship with the champion she stayed with the most got worse and worse.
She often wondered- after their relationship had been mended, of course- why Link had given her a second chance. She had been far from pleasant towards him, and had- she shamefully remembered- shouted at him on many occasions like a small child throwing a tantrum.
Through all that, Link had kept his silence- but that had only made her angrier. She had been extremely insecure and downtrodden about her uselessness and inability at that period of time, and had taken his silence as a form of him looking down on her, so much so that he deigned not to even reply her.
His silence also reminded her of the silence from her father, from the councilors that once treated her nicely, but completely ignored her after finding out she was useless, from the friends-maids- she had when she was young that stopped talking to her after her father had stopped caring for her like a daughter.
Then, one day, she had- contrary to what people would expect from a princess supposedly holding the triforce of wisdom- foolishly ran away from him into the desert by herself whilst visiting the Gerudo, and had been trapped by the Yiga clan. It was then that he had come into save her life, and it was then she had finally decided to throw away her petty thoughts and feelings and begin anew with him.
But it was only after their relationship had mended did she know exactly to how absolutely foolish and misguided her initial thoughts and opinions had been. The more she got to know him, the more respect she had for him, and her understanding of him grew.
He did not speak to her not because he looked down on her, nor was it because he had been angry with her due to her attitude towards him.
When she had heard that he refrained from speaking due to the fact that he, as the chosen one, was worried that his words would inadvertently cause harm due to them carrying much more weight as compared to the words of an ordinary person, shame, guilt and self-deprecation had flooded into her.
It was then that she finally accepted the fact that yes, she was less deserving and less capable than the man whom she had - she realised soon enough- imposed all her bitterness and self-hatred accumulated over the years onto.
After that, she came to appreciate his silence. His silence became a place where she could actually enjoy quiet and peace. She had never known that sharing a comfortable and peaceful silence with another person could help her relax so much until she met Link.
His presence had a strange effect- perhaps it was the safety he provided, or perhaps it was the fact that she knew he did not expect anything out of her- but his presence and his silence never failed to soothe her frayed nerves and chaotic emotions.
While the four champions consistently talked and made her life interesting, Link had been the one to provide a place for her to hide away from the World and its issues- a place where she could just relax her mind, body and soul.
There had been a day, when their relationship had grown to be as close as the best of friends- and maybe even more- she had asked him why he had given her a second chance. She knew she did not deserve it- she was the least deserving of it. She had no right to find such a close and trusted friend in such a loyal and kind person.
She never got the answer. All she had gotten was a small smile, a gentle look and a shake of the head. After that, she never tried to ask again. She knew that if Link did not want to answer, there was no way to get it out of him.
"I...remembered about Mipha," Link's quiet voice was barely audible, stopping Zelda's train of thoughts. She pushed the nostalgia away, and shut off her thoughts, leaning forward so that she could hear Link better. "Back at the bridge, when we arrived, and just a few hours ago, at the reservoir."
Zelda felt a twinge of pain when Mipha's name was mentioned, but she kept a lid on her own feelings. This was Link's time, and she wasn't about to ruin it with her own feelings.
"What was it about?" Zelda asked softly, in the most soothing and gentle voice she could use. Link kept quiet for a long moment, staring at the sky, his eyes a million miles away as his thoughts dwelled on the scenes of the past.
"The first time we met," Link replied, before finally tearing his eyes away from the window and looking down at his gloved palm. "The first time we spoke."
A short period of silence ensued- with Zelda trying to find words to comfort him, but shortly after, she gave up. How could she comfort him? Mipha was dead. She had been dead for just over a century. No matter what she said, no matter what she did, Mipha would not come back from the dead.
"I wish I had remembered this earlier," Link spoke again, and Zelda could almost feel his pain, as though it was tangible. "I wish I had remembered before I met her spirit."
A huge wave of envy crashed into her. She bit her lip, the blanket bunching up in her hands as she clenched them into fists.
When Link had entered the divine beasts, Zelda's consciousness could not follow Link in- it was as though the divine beast had a defensive barrier that blocked her consciousness from entering with Link. Hence, she did not have the chance to see Link speak to Mipha.
In fact, she herself had not known that Link had been able to speak to the spirit of Mipha until he told her a few weeks after they had defeated Calamity Ganon.
Mipha had been her sworn sister- someone that she held extremely dear in her heart.
It had hurt when she found out that she missed such an opportunity. In the long hundred years of waiting in the darkness, she had thought that she would never be able to speak to her beloved champions- friends- ever again.
To find out that their spirits had stayed on the earth all those years, and yet she had never tried to reach out to them...
Granted, there was a barrier that blocked her out, but perhaps if she tried hard enough, she would have found a way.
"I wish I could talk to her again, one last time," Link's voice broke her out of her self-pity, bringing her back to the present. Her eyes refocused on Link, and utter astonishment and shock filled her when she saw the lone tear travelling down his cheek.
The sight brought about a whole new bout of tumultuous feelings and thoughts, and before she knew it, tears were sliding down her cheeks as well. His heartbreak- she could feel it too. She realized that Mipha had been as precious to him as she had been to herself as well. She might have been sworn sisters with Mipha, but Link and Mipha shared a history that went back all the way to their childhood.
Blatantly ignoring the millions of thoughts that screamed at her not to do it- that it was too risky and too much was at stake- Zelda brought her hand forward, and put it gently on top of Link's clenched fist.
Link's head shot up, and his surprised eyes met her concerned ones. She could see the pain in his eyes- it reflected her own. She knew he could see it too, as the moment their eyes met, his cautious eyes softened, and his body relaxed from its alert posture when she had touched him.
She struggled slightly with what to say, biting her lips as her eyes shifted away from Link's eyes for a moment as she tried to think but couldn't, before deciding to simply be honest with him- to reciprocate his willingness to express his thoughts with her own.
Meeting his eyes again, she blinked away the tears and nodded in understanding. "I wish for that as well, Link," She whispered. Link stared at her for a moment, before bringing his hand up to his face to wipe away the tear stain and then giving her a grateful smile.
"Thank you, Zelda," Link's voice held gratitude this time- he did not try to hide it. She could tell that he was still holding some of his emotions in- that he was still unsure about how vulnerable he could be around her. She was slightly disappointed, but told herself that it was already a huge step that he allowed himself to show even a part of his true thoughts and feelings to her.
"Thank you, too, Link," Zelda replied with a genuine smile. Link gave a small smile and nodded. Zelda then retracted her hand- the skin which had touched his gloved fists tingling slightly. Link then stood up, and took one last long look at the starry sky.
"You should rest, Zelda. You have just recovered. I'm sorry for taking your time," Link told her, his voice back to impassivity. Zelda shook her head.
"Don't apologize, Link. This helped me as well," And indeed it had. She had been holding her emotions in for too long, and Link had presented the opportunity for her to release those thoughts and feelings.
The guilt was still there, as well as the regret and grief, but it felt lighter now.
Link gave her one last smile, before coaxing her to lay back down on her bed before- just like earlier that day- pulling the blanket up to her chin.
"Rest well, Zelda." Link said before making his way out of the room. Zelda almost wanted to call out for him to stop, and ask him to stay with her for the night, but she bit back the question. It was still too early for that.
They had not spoken much- only a few sentences, but those few words meant a thousand other things.
Nevertheless, she was not disheartened- there had been progress, and that was all she asked for.
