A/N: Okay, this chapter is a little trippy, but you'll know why as soon as you read it. It's also present tense (unlike the rest of this fic). I tried writing this chapter like normal in past tense, and I hated it, so this chapter gets present tense. It should make sense why. If not, well… just pretend it does!
There is nothing but white: endless stretches of vast nothingness in the form of a bright colorless color. There are no walls, no floors. It's just white light. And it's warm, comforting, like a tight embrace only far more powerful.
Zelda can't tell if she's standing up or lying down. There's a disorienting feeling to not knowing where the horizon is in an empty space. And it is empty. There's nothing. Nothing.
Zelda takes a step, but there is no echo, and no indication that her foot has touched anything. It's just a step. She doesn't move forward. She can't. There's nowhere to move.
It's endless. Infinite.
When Zelda looks down, there's no knife in her stomach, no indication that she's ever been stabbed. She's wearing a dress again, not armor. There's no Link. No castle. No battle.
But there is something that's appearing from nowhere, and she squints into the distance to try and make it out.
"Zelda."
She jumps because the voice is beside her, not in front of her. It's not Link's voice. It's not Shad. But it is one she recognizes.
"Aelia?"
Her sister appears beside her, turning her head to face Zelda so her short blonde hair bounces with the movement. A wide smile appears on her lips, and she grabs her older sister, hugging her so tightly that Zelda thinks her bones will snap in the best possible way. She returns the embrace and feels tears, fresh, happy tears start to run down her face.
"How are you here?" Zelda asks.
But Aelia rubs a circle on her sister's back. "I've been here. It's you who just showed up."
And though Zelda has looked around already, it finally hits her that this is not natural. "Where is here?"
Stepping back, Aelia runs her hand down and comes back up with a light cloud of fluff that disappears as if in the wind. "The Sacred Realm. We're with the Goddess, Zelda."
"What?" and her delusions of peace and calm come crashing down as she's gripped with overwhelming panic. "That's not… no…"
"You're dying, Zelda. The Goddess is welcoming you home."
"Home?"
Zelda turns to look at the white space, but is met by a pair of piercing blue eyes—her own eyes—starring back at her. Only… the face isn't hers. The hair is different. The voice, the body… none of it is the same. But there is no doubt in her mind. She's looking at herself.
And then, that other becomes another, and another, and another until there are thousands of Zeldas encircling her in a seemingly endless spiral with herself at the center. None of them look the same, but it's all undoubtedly her.
But with another blink, they're gone.
Somehow, it doesn't frighten her. "How long have I been here?"
Aelia skips her feet, not moving, but seeming to enjoy the motion. "Forever. A second. Time is different here. There's no future, and there's no past. There's only present… only now. And later, there will be another now, but there is no in-between. Time is a human concept. There's no need for it here." She watches Zelda's face contort in confusion and laughs, light, airy, a sound Zelda missed desperately. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
"Can we grow old? Can I get to see you live?"
Aelia shrugs in a sort of affirmative, gesturing to the space off to her right. And they watch as Aelia appears there, older, perhaps in her thirties. A scene appears behind her: sky, trees, a log, a book. She looks regal, like a queen.
"You can have that life," Aelia says as the scene disappears. Zelda looks back at her still sixteen-year-old sister, still confused. "Mom and dad are here. You can be with us, and we can be in the now forever."
"They're here?"
"It's not bad here, Zelda, I promise." Aelia laughs. "The Goddess gives us the chance to live however we want. For us, there is no Ganondorf. There's no war. There's only peace, and we're happy in it. You can forget why you're here and just be with us. Look."
She points into the distance and takes Zelda's hand, guiding her across the nothingness towards that something. And that thing quickly turns into walls, a tall entryway with elaborate windows lining the edges. There are paintings: royals, scenery, food, anything and everything. It's all familiar. It's her home manifesting before her.
The ground becomes solid and Zelda feels her feet touch the marble floors once again as she used to. Carpeted staircases appear, and there are no broken banisters or blood or signs of anything happening. Her mind forgets that there ever was evil in the castle.
And soon, there are footsteps. Two sets.
Zelda feels tears well up in her eyes again when she looks at the staircase. There is a beautiful blonde woman with long, wavy hair that's been neatly pinned back. She's in a flowing purple and blue dress, and a large crown sits atop her head. Her brown eyes are soft and kind, loving and welcoming and warm.
The man beside her has a big smile on his face, one that looks like it could actually cause pain if held for too long. He has a beard and greying hair that's tied back into a low but neat ponytail. And he's wearing a royal vest, complete with every adornment from a Hylian broach to a billowing cape. His crown is lopsided as he hurries down the stairs, practically tripping into Zelda as he pulls her into his arms and then pulls back to look at her. There are tears in his eyes, but he lets go to give the queen a chance to embrace her daughter.
For a moment, and only behind her eyes, she can see their bloodied bodies lying on the ground in front of her with Ganondorf laughing at her vicious screams. But when her eyes open again, the memory disappears because they are all here in front of her, alive.
And before she knows it, Zelda is living day after day as if nothing had ever happened. She can't remember the details, just that she's there, and her parents and her sister are there. They're happy. And she forgets that this isn't her life but the Sacred Realm because it's everything she'd ever wanted.
She's walking through a corridor in a fine dress that trails behind her. Marnie, her lady's maid, is following behind, though not so far that they can't have a conversation as they walk. Zelda's attention is on the girl when she feels a hard thud and turns around.
A tall, muscular soldier turns to face her, his mouth dropping open and his head bowing, letting his dirty blonde hair fall in front of his face. "Forgive me, Princess Zelda."
She blinks a few times, her heart fluttering as his blue eyes look up and meet hers, holding her gaze in a way very few soldiers do. "Wh-why are you sorry? I crashed into you."
He breathes out a laugh and smirks. And Goddess, if that isn't the most inappropriately attractive look she's ever seen. And judging by his uniform, he's a simple soldier, not a high-ranking commander, or a lord. So, when he snorts, she finds herself momentarily stunned by his words.
"You're right, Princess. I'm not sorry. Feel free to crash into me again anytime, actually."
Her mouth drops open and she can hear Marnie step forward to chastise him, but the way his eyes glisten, the easy flirty tone in his voice… it has Zelda waving her lady's maid away.
Her brows furrow. "Have we met?"
He breathes out another laugh and shakes his head, some of his hair falling into his eyes again as he does, so he pushes it out of the way to looks at her almost sheepishly, though there's still a boldness in his words that has her intrigued. No one has ever treated her this way. They've never been so forward.
But he is. "I'm afraid not. I'd definitely remember if we had. No, I'm, uh, I'm stationed at Hyrule's Western Garrison. I'm just here to deliver a message to the commander."
"Yeah," she agrees with an interested smile. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember you too. What's your name, soldier?"
"Link Forrester, Princess."
As she looks at him, something familiar hits her. She sees his eyes a thousand times over as different bodies branch out from a spiral. All of them this 'Link Forrester', and yet not him. And as it had been when she'd seen herself, it was gone in an instant, and she was left staring at just him.
"Are you staying here long?"
His eyebrows go up a bit, surprised that she's still talking to him. He makes a face and shakes his head. "I don't know. Until they tell me to go back, really."
"Okay," she says coyly and with a smile as she walks away from him without another word.
And she can feel time pass as she lives her life. She spends meals with her parents, she jokes with her sister, she sleeps in her bed.
And one day, she's outside in the beautiful gardens sitting on a wicker chair with her legs crossed underneath herself. She's playing chess, and her opponent is herself. But as she goes to move the knight, she finds that she can't put it down, like it's caught her in a trance. She knows this piece from somewhere. The piece meant something to her once. She just… her mind is too fuzzy to figure it out on her own. She does manage to put it down and lets out a deep breath.
Then a hand reaches over her shoulder and moves a rook.
"Check."
She startles and spins around to see the handsome soldier, Link. She doesn't know how long it's been since she'd last seen him, but somehow, his intrusion on her game or in her personal space isn't unwelcome like she thinks it should be. "Link Forrester. You're back?"
"You remembered my name?" he chuckles, but she can see and hear the genuine surprise in him as his neck reddens. "I was transferred here a few days ago, actually. I was on my way back to the barracks when I got lost. It seems we're destined to meet no matter what, Princess."
"A little dramatic," she laughs, but offers him the seat across from her. "How did you get lost?"
And they talk through two more games. She has to coax some of the conversation out of him whenever he really remembers who he's speaking to, but for the most part, there's an easy banter between them, as if they'd known each other forever.
Soon, she does.
Her days are spent with her family. She celebrates her father's birthday by giving him a quilt she and Aelia had made for him. She celebrates her own birthday and then Aelia's shortly after. Her mother's is last. The four of them live in peace, all arranged marriages called off. With the kingdom at peace, there's no need for it.
But her nights are spent with Link.
At first, she'd accidently found his patrol routes, and then she 'accidently' found them. He welcomed her unexpected company when he patrolled the boring pathways of the gardens. And then he eagerly anticipated her company, the dull gardens turning into his favorite part of his patrols.
After a time, it had been there in the privacy behind hedges and overgrown flowers that she had kissed him. And while she'd expected him to panic, given their status differences, neither cared. It was inconsequential here.
But as the seasons changed again, his patrols moved indoors, and their moments were stolen behind closed doors, and now, they're behind locked ones. At night, he comes to her room and leaves during the guard change in the morning.
Aelia knows. She'd figured it out quickly, and helps Zelda keep it a secret for Link's sake, though she's pretty sure their parents would actually like Link. Aelia's met him, and they quickly developed a sibling-like bond. And while Zelda doesn't want to overshare anything with her teenaged sister, she occasionally catches herself gushing to her about things she and Link talked about, or activities they'd done. He'd snuck her out of Castle Town, and she'd taken him to a hidden spring beneath the castle. Well, she leaves the details of that adventure rather vague.
"Zelda," he says, turning to her. They're on the floor of her room by the fire. She's lying against his leg and he's leaning against some piece of furniture as he strokes her hair. She hums her acknowledgement and waits for him to speak, but he doesn't.
"Link?"
He's older than the last time she saw him. Years have passed, but not too many. So when he doesn't respond to her right away, she knows that he's working up the courage to say something serious, something he can't joke his way out of.
"I'm being transferred. Your father wants me on the border of your cousin's kingdom. It's weeks away by horse. I can't say no to your father… the King."
She gasps and shakes her head, looking to the door as if he's there. "Why would he do that?"
"Politics. You'd know better than I would. But Zelda…gods…if I asked you to run away with me, what would happen?"
Her eyebrows shoot up, completely taken aback. "What would happen… in what way, exactly?"
"Would you do it?"
A small sound escapes her lips as she considers what he's asked her. "My family is here. My parents, my sister…"
"And I'm too far away from them," he nods. Despite the disappointment in his voice, he understands. He's always understood.
"No, that's not what I mean," she says, reaching out for his hand. "I want to say yes. But…" and her head is buzzing with pain for the first time in years. "Have you ever felt like something bad happened, and you've been given a second chance here?"
When she looks back up at him, he looks different again. He's younger, and there are several scars on his face. One is long and still raw as it runs down his eye, splitting the hair of his eyebrow. The other is underneath that one, much less aggressive, but still healing. It's horizontal across his cheek. She doesn't understand why he looks different, but it doesn't bother her. It's him, after all.
"No," he says easily. And it's an easy smile and a glint in his eye that she sees a flirty comment on the horizon, and she smiles, patiently waiting for it. He laughs at her expression and bends down the short distance between them so he can lower his lips to her ear. "Any life with you in it can't be half bad." He teases her lips but pulls away far too soon for her liking.
She starts to reciprocate her feelings but realizes she can't do so without giving him potentially false hope. She's just told him that she wants to live here with her family rather than to run away with him. But… she wants to choose him too. Something deep inside her knows that she's picking one of them forever and not just for a few weeks or months or even years.
"I finally have them back," she says, feeling like a young child rather than a grown woman. Tears come to her eyes as she thinks about losing one of her choices forever.
"I know," he says, brushing her hair out of the way so he can caress her face. "I love you. Whatever you choose, I'll understand, even if it's not me. I just need you to be happy."
But before she can respond, he disappears, and she's left back in the white void of nothingness where she started. And she remembers that she's not in the palace. That time is not passing.
There's a hand in front of her, gloved, lithe, small. She takes it and is looking at herself. Exactly herself.
"We choose our paths, but sometimes, destiny decides who we meet along the way. It's time for you to choose your path. Your family awaits you down both roads."
"Who are you?" Zelda asks… herself.
But the other her just smiles. "Who do you think I am?"
With a frustrated sigh, Zelda throws her hands up. "Viscen, apparently, with a question like that."
And she pauses, recognizing that she'd forgotten Viscen. She'd forgotten the pain of seeing him… of seeing Finn… Ashei… the unknown fate that befell Seres… Daltus. The names start to have meaning again. Even Link, her Link, she'd forgotten. This place had taken her back to a time when she hadn't known any of them. But the mere thought of them, dead, tortured, her heart aches with a horrible pain that she longs to be rid of. She doesn't want to remember seeing the terrifying sights behind her eyes.
Here, it's forgotten and replaced by the joy and happiness she feels with her family. Here, she is with her sister, her parents, the people she'd loved and lost at the palace before the massacre. She's happy with them back in her life.
This world is not real. The other one is too real.
And she realizes that she's not sure which version of her life she wishes is real.
