Zelda opened her eyes slowly, the warm sunlight glimmering upon her as she sat up, pulling a blanket away.
She found herself amiss as to where she was, how she got here, how a blanket got on top of her.
Until, of course, her eyes landed on Link, her expression softening when they did.
He was just a few feet away, deep in a restful sleep, his messy brown hair skewed every which way.
Zelda quietly crawled over before lightly grazing his cheek with her fingers.
"Zelda…" he said softly in his deep sleep, Zelda's smile quite affectionate.
She soon stood up, leaving him to his well-deserved sleep as she headed outside.
Zelda found Groose laying in a similar manner when the large doors closed behind her, whisked away by the calm of sleep. He was almost sitting up, his head weighted as it leaned completely on his shoulder.
"What you two must have gone through to see me safe," she whispered before looking to the Statue of the Goddess, the Triforce shining at its' pedestal.
She assumed a bashful smile when she recalled what had happened up there just yesterday.
"Zelda?" a tired voice croaked, prompting Zelda to turn around to see Groose, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep. It won't happen again."
"It's okay, Groose," Zelda said as she approached him, sitting herself down on the grass a few feet in front of him. "We're all tired."
"But…I was supposed to keep watch. You were depending on me."
"It's really okay," Zelda replied. "Besides I think we all need to calm down. Even I am still a little on edge, like some danger is just lurking around the corner."
Groose nodded in agreement.
"Groose!" they heard a panicked voice yell, the two large doors bursting open.
"She's gone!" Link yelled with heavy breaths, "She—"
Link breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zelda, both her and Groose looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"Goddesses," he whispered as Zelda stood up.
She gave him a peck on the cheek before taking his hand and leading him to sit on the ground, the three of them making the shape of a triangle.
"We were just talking about how we all need to take a step back," Zelda said.
"Did you call me out by name?" Link asked hesitantly.
"Think you've done that yourself, Link," Groose added
Link gave an exhale, acknowledging his apparent anxiety.
"I'm sorry," he said before looking to Zelda. "I just…I don't want to lose you again…I can't…"
"You won't," Zelda assured with a smile as their eyes locked into each other.
"I think I'll go relieve myself while you two stare at each other," Groose said as he stood up.
"Sorry, Groose, we'll try to keep it more subtle," Link said as Groose left with a casual wave of his hand.
Link looked back to Zelda to see that she was already looking at him, a rather distinct smile across her face. He copied it into his own before shrugging and saying,
"Well, he said," leaning forward.
"Wait, Link," Zelda said, placing a hand on his chest, Link's surprise showing in his raised eyebrows as he retreated, his intent to kiss her stopped by her pensive expression, her downward gaze. "I…I need to tell you something."
"What is it?" Link asked softly as she looked up, her eyes locking in to his and their hands finding each other.
"I love you," she said, Link's lips parting with a shaky inhale when he heard it. "I just needed you to know."
His exhale was accompanied by a couple blinks of disbelief, something about hearing her say it the way she did, something about them being here, on the surface, safe and together made him speechless.
"Well, say something," Zelda said as she brought a hand behind his neck. "I mean it doesn't have to b—"
But Link's lips were on hers before she even thought of the next word to say, kissing her with such a passion that she had to put a hand on the ground to stop them from ending up horizontal.
"I take it back," she said breathlessly as they sat back up, a slight shake of her head as she kept hand on his neck. "That…that was…"
"I love you," Link said, a deep shade of pink now on Zelda's cheeks. "I…I think I always have."
Zelda's eyes dulled ever so slightly at those words.
"Me too," she said in reply, keeping her smile.
She loved them. She loved them so much.
But she felt guilty that she knew so much about why that was so, and Link so little.
She moved her hand away from his neck and to the hand she already held, two hands now on his one.
"Tonight," Zelda said, her tone turning a bit more solemn. "I think I'm ready."
"To talk?" Link asked, somehow knowing exactly what she was referring to.
"Yes," she replied with a nod, the faintest glimmer of pride in Link's eyes.
It was quite dark outside in the night they found themselves in, the only light provided by the faint white light of the moon and the stars. And, of course, the warm light of the campfire that encircled all three of them.
Link and Zelda had invited Groose to join them as well, knowing all three of them surely had things they needed to get off their chest.
Yet, for now, they merely stared at the campfire before them quite intently, the dread in the back of their minds of rehashing their experiences quite fearful at the thought that it was now an inevitable occurrence.
All three of them had sat equidistant from each other in silence after they ate their supper, knowing full well what was agreed upon earlier that day.
Even the two who were now in a romantic relationship, and who couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other all day, stayed at that same distance.
They didn't even look at each other, despite their desire to, their deep concern for each other.
"I guess I'll start," said Groose, re-situating himself and clearing his throat as Link and Zelda looked to him expectantly.
"First of all, I…" he started. "Well, I'd like to apologize…to both of you. I once told you, Link, that your head was in the clouds but really, I think it was me who wasn't thinking straight."
"And I had such a need to prove myself to you, Zelda," Groose said when he looked over to her. "That I may have driven you two apart. I mean, I know now that it's impossible, but…in some small way I think I did. I was a bully to Link and a complete jerk to you, I made him doubt himself and I made you feel uncomfortable, and for that I am truly sorry."
"Groose…" Zelda started, moved by what he said, by his sincerity. She fully meant to accept his apology and to add that no apology was necessary.
"Zelda," Link said before she could, the tone in his voice one of warning.
"Sorry," she said with a shake of her head, reminding herself of the rules stated hours before. "No interruptions. Please…please continue, Groose."
Groose gave a nod with a small smile before his expression went back to one of deep thought, his forearms sliding to lean just before his knees.
"Even after you went missing, I feel so bad that I stayed the same. I was still so disagreeable to everyone. I was abrupt with your father, I even hassled poor Link from time from to time, where he was going, what he did with you, where you were. I took my concern for you a step too far, an incident in particular outside the Bazaar one that I regret the most."
His head turned to Link, whose expression showed a clear familiarity, Zelda's eyes showing a particular intrigue.
"I had no right to accuse you like that Link, to yell at you in such a manner. You had every right to take out your sword like you did, to rush forward, to hold me against the wall with it. I'll admit that I was surprised to see the anger in your face, but whatever you would have done to me if the headmaster didn't catch us…I know I deserved it. I had baited you, called you names and accused things I never would have if I knew what I do now. I'm so sorry, Link."
Link inhaled to speak before biting his lip.
No interruptions, just letting each other talk.
"I bet you remember sitting in Gaepora's office as we both calmed down, the large pall of silence we had to sit in apprehension, him saying barely anything before he told you to go."
Groose gave a slight chuckle.
"At the time, I hated that he let you off so easily, but I guess it makes sense now."
"The headmaster assured me that you were doing everything you could to try to find Zelda. He meant it to try to calm me down, to leave it in your hands, but I took it as some sort of challenge. That's why I followed you the next time I saw you leave Skyloft."
"After all, what could a scrawny little boy do that I couldn't?" he asked rhetorically. "Goddesses was I wrong…about everything."
"I was so confident at first, that whatever you were doing down on the Surface, I could do in your place, I could do better. Even when Granny denied it, I was so confident that it couldn't possibly be you, that I would be the one to save Zelda."
"But…" Groose said with a shake of his head before sighing. "The first time I saw you defeat that monster, I just had this feeling in my gut that you were what Zelda needed, that I couldn't even come close to what you were, to how much you were risking for her. It took me a while to accept it, frustrated at my uselessness, my inadequacy, but while you were gone, Granny helped a lot. She talked me through it all and inspired me to be useful in my own way. Because…well…if I wasn't the man Zelda wanted as her own I still wanted to see her safe. I still cared about her safety and I wanted to help…I know what you were doing couldn't have been easy."
"I guess you could say I pitied you Link…every time you would come back more bruised and more scratched up, your eyes even more sad…but you still kept going…and I really admired that."
"Every day I saw more and more how much you really loved her, how desperate you were to see her again and when you came down those stairs, her hand held in yours, well…that was it."
"Both of your smiles were enough of a satisfaction for me, Granny's too. Somehow, helping you gave me a happiness I never had in Skyloft, made me realize how much I liked it down here, and how foolish I had been in the past, to you both."
"So, when that demon came back, it was a heartbreaking sight for me, to see you so broken, so unable to get her back after such a loss. For once, I was brave like you, stepping before him to try and stop him."
"I mean, it was no use, but it felt good to try, and felt even better that I was able to help you later down the line."
A small smile crept across his lips as he looked to the fire.
"I was already planning to move down to the Surface, but after what happened to Granny, I…I felt like I owed it to her, too. I knew I had changed so much and I never wanted to go back to who I was. She believed that I could be a better person, even after seeing me at my worse, so I at least owed her to try."
Groose paused for second, looking as if the next words were hesitant.
"I…I umm," he started. "I think I owe it to myself too. I hope I'm not too much of an imposition in my efforts to help out. I consider you two friends now, and I'm glad that I've found something that makes me happy, your companionship one of them."
"So…yeah…" Groose ended, shifting around. "There's all my baggage."
"I…uh," Link stammered, his voice wavering a bit before he took a deep breath. "I feel I should go next, but, before I do…"
Link turned his head to Groose.
"We are going to need your help if Hyrule is going to be anything. You're a part of all this too, and we're gonna need all the help we can get, especially considering your handiwork with the Groosenator."
"Well, of course," Groose said with a nod.
"And umm…" Link hesitated as he looked to Zelda, sharing the same look. "We're proud of you, and hopeful that you can find a happy life here."
Yet, he was now getting a distinct glare from Zelda.
"What?" Link asked. "Too much? It's not interrupting if he said he was done."
"I guess," Zelda acknowledged, Link exhaling to speak.
"Wait!" she said as she held out her hands in caution.
"Sorry," she said to Link at the sight of his apparent surprise. "But Hyrule?"
"Oh," Link retorted as he looked to Groose. "It's what we—"
"No," Groose interrupted as he held up a finger to Link, silencing him before looking to Zelda and asking,
"First just say what you think of it."
"Uhh," she said as she looked from Link to Groose, surprised that they both had the same expectant gaze.
"I don't know what it is or what you've used it to name," she started. "But I actually think it's good name for the Surface."
Groose lifted both hands in the air with an expression of satisfaction and said,
"See?" to Link.
"You don't have to convince me," Link said argumentatively before he looked to Zelda and said,
"Hyrule is the name Groose came up for the Surface."
"Oh, that's perfect!" Zelda said as she looked to Groose with a smile. "The land of Hyrule, I like it."
Zelda looked at Link with a bigger smile, yet his pensive expression neutralized hers.
He was next.
She still had yet to go as well.
It wasn't over yet.
"Anyone got anything they want to take care of before I start?"
Groose and Zelda both shook their heads 'No', inducing Link to sigh.
"Groose, you said that I didn't have my head in the clouds but…"
Link chuckled, almost laughing at himself,
"I really did," he said, both Zelda and Groose smiling when he did.
He looked to Zelda and said,
"I was too afraid to love you, and too afraid to think of what lied beneath the clouds."
"I was too afraid to defend myself, too," he said with a fleeting glance at Groose.
"If it weren't for all that happened, I…I hate to say that that may not have changed, at least not as much as it did."
Link looked up at the stars, as if searching for something in the distance.
"I don't know were to start," he said before looking instead into the fire, adjusting his hands to support him behind him. "I guess it really started when I lost you."
"You both know how I was orphaned, the sickness that took my mother, the accident that stole my father. I've said before that losing my father taught me about death and about loss."
"I never mentioned that losing you…the one moment I screamed your named and saw you fall beyond my reach…it…well it was the first time I felt truly heartbroken."
Link could hear Zelda's shaky inhale, yet he didn't look up at her, as he knew that it would have made it so much harder.
"I woke up in my bed later that night, your father telling me to stay put, assuring me that everything would turn out fine, but…I just couldn't…"
"I had this feeling…I'm not sure how to describe it. It was more than just feeling that you weren't truly safe, that I needed to do something to get you back…it was this…emptiness…"
Link exhaled a sigh.
"I guess you could that say I didn't know how much I needed you until you were gone."
"And I hated it. I hated that you had to be taken away from me for me to realize how much I took you for granted, how much I loved you, how much I should have just kissed you when I had the chance."
"That's why there wasn't a doubt in my mind when Fi said that taking up the sword as my own and going down to the Surface would get you back."
"Fi didn't notice, but…the first time I jumped off my Loftwing and descended to Hyrule…my anxiety got the better of me. My father died that way, and I almost couldn't handle it, but…when I landed and thought of you…I knew I needed to hold myself together, that I needed to be brave, to be courageous if I was ever going to see you again."
"And, surprisingly, being courageous, it…it just came so naturally…I…well, I guess I don't know how to explain that either…but I knew I needed to find you."
Zelda shifted around nervously.
She knew exactly why.
"So," he said with a shrug. "It started."
"The constant worry, the constant fatigue, the bruises, the cuts, the blood I ignored. I…I was so tired…I was consumed by the sight of you hurt or dead…I…I didn't sleep for days. And…the horrid things I was seeing, the monsters I had to kill to just get anywhere, my frustrations that you were just…nowhere in such a dangerous place….I kept it all inside, bottled up."
"It…silenced me…"
"It was like I shut down, things that would have stalled me just days ago becoming just another monster I had to kill, just another obstacle that was in my way, just another person that wasn't you."
"When you approached me in front of the Bazaar, Groose," Link said as he looked to the red-haired knight who looked as if he were about to cry. "I didn't even know if she was alive then…I was angry because of it and I'm afraid you caught the worst of it, the frustration I had bottled up."
Link shook his head slowly and said sincerely,
"You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry."
Link looked back to the campfire.
"It all changed when I saw you alive, for more reasons than one."
"Not only was it the first time that I acknowledged to myself that I loved you…but what Impa said to me after you left really forced me to think about the bigger picture and my role in it."
"As much as I hated that she doubted my abilities, she was right in her inference that I was foolish. The war Fi had told me I was fighting in…it was bigger than just us and I had to learn to act with courage, and not with impulsiveness."
"It wasn't long before I realized that this land too, deserved to be saved. And, once I knew that you had your own role to play in it as well, I could calm myself."
"Well, at least a bit," Link said with a smile. "I mean, I was in love with you, I couldn't help but miss you."
Zelda's expression softened as he continued.
"Everything you told me made sense when I finally saw you in the past, you spoke with such a wisdom in your words and such a beauty in yourself that I just stood there like an idiot, your guarded expression holding me back from embracing you. I held back my desperation, almost forgetting how much I had done to get to that point, until it was too late."
Link paused, pursing his lips before he looked to Zelda, whose expression was similar to Groose's.
"You couldn't hear me, could you?"
Zelda only shook her head slowly, a question in her eyes still of what he said then, just before he started to cry, and just before she no longer saw him before her.
Link gave a small smile.
"I believe it went something like this."
Link took a deep breath in and looked to the campfire returning his gaze into her blue eyes at his exhale.
"'Zelda, please, listen to me. You didn't use me. I would have done it all anyway because I love you. I should have said it before but I love you more than anything. Please.'"
"I must have been so loud. I'm sure Impa heard me."
Zelda had brought her hands to her mouth at the first word, tears falling down without restraint.
Link inhaled shakily when he saw them, now using all his might to not stand up, take her into his arms, and wipe away her tears.
But Zelda only shook her head, bringing her shaky hands down.
"Please, please continue," she said in small voice. "I'm fine."
But Link didn't stop looking at her until he reached out and grabbed her hand, the both of them sharing a look of thankfulness.
Link's gaze returned to the campfire, keeping his hold on her hand.
"I was devastated again, to come so far for you to slip through my fingers, the words 'unbreakable spirit' repeating themselves over and over again in my head, haunting me."
"Because it felt broken to me."
"But, in the words of Pipit, 'just because you have an unbreakable spirit doesn't mean it can't bend a little.'"
Zelda and Groose nodded to themselves in response as Link continued.
"And then everything just fell into place when I learned the Song of the Hero, when I collected the Triforce, when I woke you up…"
"Of course I was devastated again when Ghirahim returned but by then, I was determined to save Hyrule and to save you."
"So I did," Link said with a small shrug. "And I believe the happiest moment of my life so far was when you reawakened, glowing golden until you were just…Zelda. Mine to embrace, mine to hold, mine to love…of course, if you would have me."
Link looked to Zelda and said,
"I can't begin to describe how happy I am to have you safe," Zelda prompted to smile back.
Yet, Link's smile faded, Zelda a bit surprised when he continued,
"But…" he started hesitantly. "I…I think…"
Zelda tightened her grip on Link's hand, wanting to show her support no matter how fearful she was of his next words.
"I think there's something wrong with me…I can't seem to relax, or to have you out of my sight…and I know I should be able to, it…it just may take a while for me to adjust to peace. I keep expecting something to happen, anticipating danger. My dreams have become nightmares, and even reality is often filled with anxiety. I don't know how to fix it."
"I…I'm so sorry if it takes me longer to…"
His words trailed off when he felt Zelda's hand gently place itself on his shoulder, the girl shaking her head slowly.
"Take all the time you need," she said with the fullest sincerity, their eyes now locked with a look of deep regard.
Yet Zelda averted her glance, scooting back to where she sat, Link's eyes still focused on her.
"Well, for goddesses sake, Link," Groose said. "You're done, right? Hug her, kiss her!"
Link only shook his head, not even looking to Groose.
"No," he said softly. "Let her talk first, there's something up."
Zelda was now hugging her knees as she stared into the rising embers of the fire.
"Impa was the first person I saw when I landed to the surface," she said. "She told me of my role, encouraged me to regain my memories as the Goddess, but...there's more to it than that...more to those memories than just me..."
She sighed.
"It'll take a while to tell," Zelda said as she looked to Link. "And...and you might b-blame me for..."
Link didn't say a word, following the rules as he prompted her to continue with a smile and a movement of his head.
Her expression sank with affection before it returned to a pensive state, unfocused upon the campfire.
"I guess it started the day before the Wing Ceremony," she continued. "When we met on the hill..."
"I…I don't know what to say…" Link finally made out, both him and Groose rendered speechless by Zelda's long story.
"I know," Zelda said. "And I should have told you before, but I didn't even know what to make of it myself and I—"
"No," Link said, interrupting her and looking directly at her. "I don't know what to say to convince you that you don't need to feel guilty, Zelda."
"Link…everything you've done," she started as he stood up and approached her, her voice weakening when he offered his hand. "D-dying and being reincarnated, has…"
He pulled her up to standing and said,
"Has brought me back to you," before kissing her. "And perhaps it will always."
Author's Note: Been a while.
Actually, it's been an entire year since I finished this fic. Lots of things have happened but I'm definitely still writing. I hope you've enjoyed this little epilogue and I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that I have a sequel in the works for this fic. It's still being written, so I wouldn't expect anything too soon, but it is coming.
Had the idea for this and the sequel way before COVID-19, but now I have the time to work on it. Hopefully that means good things with just a trademark sprinkle of angst.
With warm gratitude,
-fatefulfaerie
