The rain pattered on the grass, soddening the otherwise upright greenery into submission, flattened into the mud.
There had been heavy rain for hours, most of the castle inhabitants and servants staying inside to keep warm, almost every fireplace hastily kept ablaze.
A rather cold winter was expected in Hyrule and soon, the torrential rain would turn into inches of snow.
None of that, however would matter to the stone that now stood tall in the grounds just outside the castle walls.
Unmoving and stagnant, much like the man that stood before it, the stone did not waver in the undeniable cold, in the wet rain, in the absence of mourners.
The man stood just as silent as well, left alone to his thoughts, to his memories, to his regrets.
He hadn't uttered a word during the service, in fact he hadn't talked in weeks.
A display of anger in the throne room days before, of course, being the only exception.
Small nods and shakes of the head had proven enough to reassume his duties and responsibilities as a King. After all, silence had become an instinct to him once before.
"Hey," he said almost casually to the stone before him, yet his voice was weak, as if barely any effort had been put into uttering the word.
"It's been a while," he continued, the sadness in his voice not wavering, "I'm sorry I put all this off, I…"
He exhaled a sigh.
"Well, I guess I never thought I would have to bury you."
Link took off his headpiece, the intricate crown that signified his kingship, the gold and the jewel that told of his royalty, the piece of red fabric that flopped to a pointed edge behind it, reminiscent of his heroism in the era of twilight. He set it on the ground before sitting down beside it, starkly reminded of himself at seventeen.
Messy brown hair, really only a child from Ordon, in over his head in so many ways.
Until everything started to click into place.
"I…I wish I knew for sure that you could hear me, but I have this feeling…"
He gave a small chuckle.
"Isn't it always a feeling?" he asked rhetorically.
"It's my own fault for not giving too much thought to what happens when we die. I was so happy in my life with you that I hadn't even thought about it. Really, I…I always thought that I would go first."
"I guess a part of me expected to be reincarnated, to forget about this life completely and save Hyrule in the next. But, there's another part of me that hopes to see you again, that wishes to be a part of the afterlife that Hylians believe in, where loved ones are reunited and wars and conflict are only a distant memory."
"Then again," he said, correcting himself at the realization of his mistake, "if I am to be reincarnated, I suppose I would see you again."
Link looked down and started to pull at the grass at his fingers, absent-mindedly ripping them out of the ground, a pass-time for a child a quarter his age.
"Zelda is fine, but she misses you greatly. She has a new attendant, you…you probably know why by now. I just couldn't trust Raqa anymore, no matter how much we came to trust her in the past. I can't trust any of them."
"I can only imagine what you would say about all that."
Link smiled to himself.
"'Fear is a first thought, an instinct of cowardice that we must avoid'. You always had such a way with words."
"I used to think that courage was everything, that above all else, it was needed to overcome fear. For a long time, I believed that to be true."
His smile faded, the light in his eyes that flickered for just a second extinguishing as well.
"But, I've started to doubt that statement with you gone. It's too much of a generalization, and things have become so much more complicated. We never had to choose between safety and unity before."
"I see now that the technology works much better in theory than in practice. We always knew that it was risky. I guess we got complacent, huh? We never thought we'd see the day where all that worry would be justified. We got too used to them being around, to them being symbols of unity. It was too easy for us to forget how dangerous they were."
"And now, well…now it's all over. Destroyed by what saved us, decimated by our salvation, what a way for our story to end."
"Then again, I suppose you wouldn't have had it any other way. When it came to defending Hyrule, you were always willing to give up your life in heartbeat. I remember because I was the same."
"You never really cared about your own safety, did you?" he asked rhetorically, "I know you loved me, loved our daughter, loved your life, loved the kingdom we built but…you would have given all that up if it meant protecting someone else…I know."
"You were always too selfless for your own good, Zelda. I hate so much that you had to die for Hyrule to be safe. You know very well that I would have willingly taken your place, that I almost have in the past, but…at the same time…the pain of losing you…I would hate very much for you to feel it at my demise. Perhaps I can rest easier knowing that I have suffered the most of the two, that somehow you've been relieved of having to bury me."
"Goddesses, what an odd thing to say," Link said with a shake of his head, "I don't know if that came out right. I just…I never wanted you to feel pain ever again and what I feel now…is the most I have ever felt."
Link stopped his hand, the pulled strands of grass in it falling to the ground as it relaxed. He leaned his head on his hand as he looked down at the muddy grass, a mix of green and brown that surely would have been blurred if he hadn't already exhausted his tears.
"Everything has suddenly become so much harder without you, but I know you would want me to keep going. This battle I'm fighting, struggling with losing you…I know I must persevere for our daughter. She doesn't deserve to be orphaned like us and I love her too much to leave her alone."
Link looked back up to the stone, as if his Queen were simply sitting across from him.
"I should make more time for her," Link said with a few nods, his gaze almost distant until he was brought back to the moment, standing up like he was before.
"I love you," he said with a small shrug and an even smaller smile, as if it were some simple fact. By now, it was such an easy admittance, those words feeling so right to say.
"I loved you when we defeated Calamity Ganon," he continued, "all to protect the Hyrule you wanted to be safe. I loved you when we were married and I loved you when we became parents."
Link took a couple of slow steps and knelt just before the stone, gently placing his hand on its' edge.
"I loved you, I'm sure, in another life before this one and I will love you in the next."
"Until we meet again," he said softly before standing up, giving just one more read of the inscription in the stone.
Here lies Queen Zelda of Hyrule,
Survived by her daughter and her beloved King
She was kind to her people and wise in her efforts to protect them
Forever remembered as a legend, the kingdom will long mourn such a selfless soul.
Author's Note: Just one more chapter after this one. I don't know if I'm emotionally ready to end this fic but, then again, when am I emotionally ready for anything.