This is for the Tumblr behind-the-fic oneshot thing, but if I'm too late, I was going to write this one next anyway!
Summary: Years have passed since Zelda and Link defeated the Calamity together, and reconstruction of the kingdom is nearly done, but Zelda's work load keeps her busy, and Link's job is never done.
WARNING: Major Character Death & sad
Word count: 7639
Impa,
It is with the deepest pride and my great pleasure that I invite you to the equinox ball in honor of the reopening of Castle Town and the palace. After much time and hard work, our reconstruction efforts have borne fruit, and we are beginning to see the results. If you are still looking to add that expansion to Kakariko's shrine, I'd strongly recommend hiring the Bolson Construction Company, as they were the ones primarily responsible for our success.
Please feel free to invite whoever you'd like. I'm already sending Purah and Robbie their own invitations, and of course, Paya is invited, but add on anyone you desire, even if you are unable to attend yourself.
As to the question from your last letter, I would like to say that my personal life will remain as private as possible until after the ball. Though Link and I are still technically courting, I wouldn't dream of announcing the wedding until the official completion of the castle. The intrigues of a courtship seem so frivolous, but I know the gossip surrounding our lives is public interest. Won't they love all the news we'll have for them soon?
And yes Impa, I know of the herb. Thank you for your concern. I welcome your sage wisdom.
With warmest regards,
Queen Zelda
Zelda sealed the letter into an envelope and stamped it closed with her royal seal. Her rooms had been among the first that they'd been cleaning when reconstruction had begun on the castle all those years ago, and Zelda had settled in quite quickly, though she adamantly refused to go into the now-repurposed rooms that once belonged to her father.
Tapping the letter pensively with her fingernail, Zelda thought about the contents of Impa's letter. As an old friend, a spy, and a wise leader, she knew almost everything about their private life. Impa had been pushing for a rushed wedding for the past month, claiming that it was exactly what the people needed right now, and she was certain that Zelda wasn't going to complain.
Zelda turned and rested her head in her palm, smiling lazily at the sprawled out knight in her bed. His blonde hair was down, as she preferred it, and it was wild across their pillows. Some of it covered his face, and she longed to push it away so he wasn't inhaling it with every deep breath he took from his wide-open mouth. She imagined if she did go over, she might even see him drooling, such was the level of relaxation he felt nowadays. But she also knew that if she even went to press a light kiss on his cheek, he'd stir awake immediately.
She always found it difficult to wake up before her knight. He'd always open his eyes when she slid out of bed, and his blue ones were fixed on her until she ordered him back to sleep. It was habit, she imagined. Sometimes, she didn't think he was even truly awake when he watched her. But some days, his hand would drape over her to stop her from leaving, or it would chase her as she stood. She was a sucker, and gave in to him far more often than not.
Today wasn't one of those days.
Her workload had piled up these past weeks as she'd begun to oversee the final aspects of reconstruction, and it was far more necessary that she get up earlier to finish all of her daily tasks in time. Today alone, she had to write several letters, had a stack of documents to read over and sign, the ceremonial opening of an orphanage in town that she was heading, tea with a noble, dinner with an ambassador and emissary, and a late meeting with some of the staff to hear a complaint they had regarding the quality of the kitchens.
She wouldn't have time to pray, unless the Goddess was willing to hear her hastily thought prayers while she hurried through the corridors.
"Zelda?"
Though she was still looking at Link, she hadn't been focused on him until he spoke, voice gravelly and rough with sleep. He rubbed at his eyes while a yawn escaped him.
Zelda hurried over to the bed, knowing that the morning and late in the night were the only times she'd truly get to spend with him, and tonight, she was sure she'd be too tired to hold a conversation. He'd be with her through most of the day as her knight, but as her best friend, closest confidant, and barely-discrete lover, he'd have to wait.
She threw herself onto the bed, giggling as she crawled so she could straddle him. His eyes were still tired, but becoming more alert with every second she was near.
Zelda didn't know if it was because of what they'd endured together for roughly 120 years, or the bond they'd forged from the moment Link awakened from the Shrine of Resurrection, but he looked at her so often as if he didn't know she was real and couldn't believe she was with him, the same way he looked at her now.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she leaned down to kiss Link.
"Morning."
He hummed out a contented sound, chasing her lips to feel the soft heat against his one more time before he let his head fall back. "Morning. Is it still early?"
"It is. You can go back to sleep. I have a busy day."
"Well, I'm up now," he chuckled, running his hand along the curve of her hip.
"I can see that," she snorted, kissing him again.
He held her a little tighter, pulling her down to his chest. Zelda yelped when she was practically flung forward and laughed as Link kissed her neck.
When Link's hand slipped under her shirt, Zelda let out a breathy sigh before stopping him. "Not today, unfortunately," she whispered into his ear. "We'll have tomorrow, though."
"Want to make a trip with me back to Hateno for a few days when this is all done? Just to relax and get away?"
"That sounds great. As soon as I can get away for more than an hour, we're out of here."
"Alright," he said, sliding her off of him so he could roll onto his stomach, hugging his pillow close. "I'm taking five more minutes."
Zelda slid her fingers through his hair to finally fix that piece that had been bothering her. "Don't forget dinner."
"I won't."
Grabbing her things, she packed her papers into a pile and locked them against her chest so they wouldn't fly everywhere while she headed to the library. She made use of her father's hidden study, though she'd had it redesigned so it didn't remind her too much of him. She couldn't bear to remember those she'd lost 100 years ago without ever getting the chance to say goodbye.
With a quill and ink in hand, Zelda began writing a series of letters, ranging from King Dorephan, Chief Kaneli, and even a few to Purah—a few because one was an official letter requisitioning ancient technology, and the other was a personal letter to catch up, as well as her invitation to the equinox ball.
"Your Majesty."
Her head snapped to the doorway where Rayella, her personal assistant and page, had ducked her head into the room.
"Forgive me, but your advisors would like to go over the documents with you. There are 32 that require your in-depth understanding, and another 86 that you can simply sign off on, should you agree."
Sitting back, Zelda let her hands rest easily on her stomach as she sighed. "Thirty-two? This is going to take hours."
"Most likely, Majesty."
Begrudgingly, Zelda stood up and fixed herself before following Rayella towards the council chambers, where stacks of documents sat on a desk, and seasoned politicians waited so they could explain the details of every single one to her. Though she'd been on the throne for several years now, she still wasn't confident that it was enough time, and her advisors aided her in every possible way.
But Goddess, it could be so dull.
An hour or two in, Zelda looked ready to fall asleep, slouched back in her chair with one hand supporting her head, and the other resting on her stomach. If she didn't know her advisors so well, she'd feel embarrassed, but they knew she was still listening, and for all her efforts and determination, they knew she was still too young to even technically be on the throne.
According to the old Hylian laws, a monarch could not be officially crowned until their 25th birthday, when they had sufficient training and knowledge to begin ruling a kingdom with training wheels still on. Granted, she was in the exception category: dead parents. She had no one else to rule in her stead, so she'd taken the throne years before she should have been allowed to. When she was 17, right out of the Calamity, she'd been coronated. It'd been some years since then, but she was also still a few years shy of the legal age.
With still about seven more long documents, Zelda groaned and grabbed the next one, only for the door to the council chambers to open and Link to appear.
"Your Majesty," he said with a bow. It made her giggle. He always defaulted to proper decorum for a while before he'd slip and start calling her Zelda in public by accident.
He was still her knight, after all. He was no Prince Consort, nor a king, so he'd opted to continue doing what he'd done 100 years prior.
"Yes, Link?" she asked, trying to keep her own professional tone.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a matter that needs your attention for a short while."
Pushing her chair back with squeak across the wood, Zelda hurried towards Link. "Of course." Then she turned around. "I'll return shortly to finish this. In the meantime, why don't you take a break and I'll have someone find you when I'm ready to continue?"
Zelda already knew they were nodding, and she followed Link down the hall for a short time before jogging up beside him to take his hand.
"What needs my attention?"
"You do," he said cryptically as he led her down a flight of stairs. "There is something I want to show you as well, since I have you. I walked by earlier and saw that pile of paperwork; figured now was a good time to kidnap you. How you don't fall asleep is beyond me."
"Sleeping is your pastime. You got 100 years of it, and it still wasn't enough."
He grinned and let go of her hand to hold the door open.
Gasping, Zelda rushed forward into the room before immediately turning back to Link. "What is all this?"
On the table were several plates of food. A light meal, but decadent and colorful. Tomatoes with garlic salt and oil, a bowl of blueberries and cherries, carrots, bread, and even a few hard-boiled eggs all graced the table, surrounded by jams and jellies and spreads.
"Did you do this?"
"I did, though I had Harv help me get it all up from the kitchen. I imagine he was glad to kick me out." Link pulled out a chair for her, before walking to the back of the room. When he returned, he handed her a giant wad of metal. "I found this, too. Figured I'd gift it to you more personally, but now's as good a time as ever."
Zelda inspected it with a grin on her face. It was a piece of a Guardian, though they'd mostly been destroyed to ensure they could never be used against Hyrule again. Still, she loved finding fragments of that life that she could analyze and tinker with in her spare time.
"Thank you, Link," she said, grabbing his arm to pull him in for a kiss. It was familiar and quick, like the greeting after a long day, but still packed with a weight that spoke volumes.
He smoothed her hair before kissing her forehead as well. "You can't keep forgetting to eat now. You know I can't always pull you out of meetings just to remind you." Grabbing a tomato with his fingers, he plopped it into his mouth and licked the juice off his fingers before grabbing the napkin to finish it off.
"Link," Zelda chastised, daintily grabbing her fork and waving it to make a point.
"What?" he asked around his mouthful. "We share food. Are you going to deny me this banquet I have prepared for you?"
Without waiting for her response, he shoved a bland piece of bread into his mouth and grabbed a second piece, spreading a preserve over it before setting it in front of her.
"I would never deprive you, Link," she laughed. Eyeing the hard-boiled egg, she grabbed one before taking the preserves away from Link, spreading it along her plate before dipping the egg into it. It tasted quite good.
"And you call me the weird eater," he snorted before grabbing another mouthful of his own.
They ate and laughed, talking about nothing and everything until they'd both wiped out all the food. Link stacked the plates, and followed Zelda part of the way back to the council rooms to finish her work, now full and content. She rubbed her stomach happily before glancing towards Link, who was already watching her with a grin.
She pushed her hair out of her face and resolved to put in her old braid when she returned to her room to keep the strands from her eyes. "Link, don't forget that we have to open the orphanage in a few hours. I'll need you as my guard, obviously."
"I am already packed."
"You're so diligent," she said, almost like a playful insult. "Thank you again, Link. I loved it all." She tucked the piece of metal close to her, hugging it to herself as she watched Link nod and head back towards the kitchen with their plates.
Zelda finished the long documents and had made a small dent in the pile that required only a minimal scan before she signed her name. She went back up to her room to change out of her lounging clothes, to something a little more ceremonial and royal. Opting for her old faithful blue dress, she and her maids got her ready for the event, while Rayella held a clipboard and went through the timetable for the rest of her day.
The ride into Castle Town was short, but it was always one that Zelda loved. She would hang out the window of the carriage to see the people and the streets, relishing in the air and that life that had been breathed back into town after the Calamity. Shouts from vendors selling their wares, priests and priestesses near the shrine asking for donations for reconstruction efforts, workers and shoppers and everyday life going on as if there had never been a mass destruction in the first place.
That ignorance was easily remembered when they reached the orphanage.
Children and teens displaced by the Calamity, parents who'd gone to fight and never came home, grandparents who had been assassinated by the Yiga on the roads; these were the children who suffered in their stead. And though they were in their 120's technically, Link and Zelda both understood the children's pain on some level; they were young orphans too.
The ribbon cutting was purely ceremonial, with reporters like Traysi covering the event and watching from the shadows for any slip-ups on the royal's side.
But Zelda and Link had been dragged into the new building that the children had already begun living in, small hands tight and determined to show the Queen and her knight their rooms and their toys. One girl thrust a naked blonde doll at Zelda, adamantly proclaiming that it was the perfect likeness of the Queen herself.
"But… where are my clothes?" Zelda asked, her face scrunching tightly as the girl examined the doll like she hadn't even noticed.
It was one of the children's caretakers who answered. "These are all donations. People often donate the toys without any of the accompanying accessories."
Letting out a deep, annoyed breath at that information, Zelda went back to the carriage to retrieve a spare dress that she had: a change of clothes in case something were to spill or tear on her own dress. When she reentered the orphanage, she grabbed a knife off of Link's belt to start a tear while she ripped the fabric, and turned to the keeper of the orphanage, requesting sewing supplies.
"Rayella," Zelda whispered while she waited. "Reschedule that tea for tomorrow instead. I'm going to need some extra time here."
"Very well, Your Majesty," she said, hurrying off.
Zelda sat cross-legged on the floor with several dolls around her, tearing the fabric of her spare dress again and again until it was all laid out. She started cutting, and then grabbed blue thread so she could create a rudimentary dress for as many dolls as she could. If no one would donate a single dress for the doll, she would do it herself.
"I'll bet you didn't know this," Zelda whispered to the children who were gathered around her, watching intently as she pulled the needle through the fabric again and again, expertly stitching without even paying much attention, "But I created all of the Champion's outfits in my day." She pointed to Link, who was also sitting on the floor surrounded by kids who were adamantly rapt by his sword. Not the Master Sword; that had been put to rest after the Calamity.
"See his blue shirt?" Zelda said, "I made that."
She was met by impressed 'ooo's as she cut a design into the collar of the toy dress before setting it aside for the next doll.
"These will do for now, but I'll have my seamstress send you some new clothes and some fabric for your dolls. But I'll also send her down here to measure each of you to get you some new clothes as well."
"Thank you, Majesty," the caretaker whispered, tears in her eyes as one of the boys in tattered pants began to cry at the news.
When Zelda was on the last doll, she glanced back at Link.
Two children were sitting on his lap, and another was standing behind him. Link braided the long hair of a young girl for her while explaining to the girl behind him how to do it. There were three boys watching, and he gave them a few of the hair bands from his bag to tie their equally long hair out of their faces. It wasn't long until the girl had fallen asleep against him and he tucked her close that he began telling the others a vivid story about an igneo talus.
Zelda's eyes were stuck on him for the longest time, imagining Link with their own child or children. He's always been good with the village kids, and after the Calamity, he proved to be just as engaged with them as he once had. Link always had an inner child, and it seemed that they were quick to spot that side of him.
When Zelda had finished all of the dresses, she crawled over to where Link sat, bringing her own entourage with her.
She wanted to take the space beside Link, to lean on his arm and admire him with the children, but a young boy took that spot to show Link his toy sword, which Link did a fantastic job of being thoroughly impressed by.
"Are you two getting married?" one of the children asked rather loudly.
Zelda blushed as she and Link locked eyes for a moment before nodding to the child. "Yes, we will be."
"Can we come?"
Zelda ran her hand through their hair. "Yes. I think I would like for all of you to come. If that's okay with Link?"
Link smirked and tapped the toy sword. "Can we hire some of them as our guards? I think I'd feel safer that way."
"Can I?" the boy asked, gasping with excitement.
"If not at our wedding, then I will bring some of you to the castle so you can at least see the knights at work."
Several of the kids cheered excitedly.
An all-too-young boy was sprawled out on the floor in front of them. "Are you going to have a baby too? Can you name him after me?"
Swallowing hard, Zelda glanced at Link again, her hand going instinctively to her stomach. He chuckled, his cheeks burning from the ease these children had in asking the questions they wanted to know the answer to, regardless of how personal the question itself was. Before their caretaker could scold him, Link glanced at Zelda and nodded. "Yes, we will. And we will absolutely consider your names, but we also want to honor our parents, so it's likely that we'll use those names first. They're gone as well, keeping yours company with the Goddess."
They spent as much time there as they could before Rayella came in and announced that they had to return to the castle to be on time for their dinner. The young girl was still sleeping in Link's arms, her breathing contented and peaceful. He felt bad waking her, so he stood and bounced her as he followed Zelda to the caretakers to say goodbye, gently handing her off.
When the guards had ushered them back into the streets after checking to make sure it was safe, they climbed back into the carriage and lurched forward from the momentum before waving out the window.
"I wish we could do more," Link whispered, as if he was afraid they could hear him.
"Tomorrow, we can bring some more stuff down. I'm sure we could easily get a few rupees together and some toys."
Link pushed his hair back and stared at Zelda. "When I was a kid, that could have been me if my parents died. As much as I don't want to think of either of us dying, it's a comfort to know that your status would give our child the privilege to still grow up in the best conditions possible."
"Yes. We have so many people who'd take care of them for us. They'd want for nothing. Those poor kids though."
"Life can be unfair," Link muttered, resting his head against the window frame.
"Don't we know it," she sighed, thinking of the Champion's, of her father, of the countless lives lost through the years. She grabbed Link's hand and held it tight.
When they were back at the palace, they both changed again. Link into his Royal Guard uniform, and Zelda into a slightly less ceremonial dress that was still appropriate for a meeting with her guests.
Though Link was still acting as one of her dozen guards, he escorted her to the dining hall, their arms locked as they chatted quietly between themselves. Link had offered her several ways out of the meeting, including him staging a kidnapping just to get her into the gardens. He'd offered to feign illness, or to cause a distraction so he could spirit her away. He promised to make her dinner to replace the one she'd miss out on. He'd suggested lying under the stars in the conservatory, finding a falling one in the ocean of glittering night.
"I want to so badly, Link," she sighed. "But not today. Tomorrow, perhaps, you can save me from all these politics."
"I just want to spend some time with you away from everyone," he complained, though he knew her duties. In truth, besides the mornings and the nights, the majority of the time which was spent sleeping, they did rarely find time to be perfectly alone. And when they did, it was often Link's doing, such as stealing her from her tasks like he had earlier that day.
"I want that too," she promised, "But I just can't today. Everything is so hectic right now."
"No, I know. I know."
They separated so he could line the walls with the guards, and she sat in her chair, only slightly late, and the food was brought out soon after.
She was starving, but her attention was divided so she could listen to the emissary's request. All she wanted to do was to eat.
Link's gaze burned into her. While the other guards stared straight ahead and at attention, he blatantly ignored that in favor of watching Zelda. When she'd catch his eye, he'd often try to make her laugh, to break her focus and reveal to her guests that she wasn't paying them attention while the man behind them mouthed obscenities and curses and jokes to her.
Something in the mood at the table shifted not long after when the topic of the Calamity came up.
Her hands fidgeted as she pushed the chair away from the table to gain some breathing room as memories flooded back to her of that first year returning to the land of the living. She'd seen just how destroyed and demoralized everyone had been by the constant threat of Ganon breaking free. And she watched them learn to breathe again with his demise.
She thought of how Link had to deal with it all while regaining his memories. How he'd put everything before himself for so long.
She had to plan something nice for him.
Perhaps they could take a trek out to the lover's pond and spend the night under the real stars, and swim in the small pond under the starlight. She'd pack a meal as he usually did, though her skill in the kitchen was abysmal, so she would absolutely ask Harv to take care of it while she perhaps decorated the basket to add her own flair.
The guards would have to go on ahead to clear the area of any monsters, and then line the perimeter, but she was willing to accept that so long as they stayed far enough away that she could forget about them entirely to focus on Link after so long. They had precious few moments of alone time these days, and Zelda knew that there would be fewer still to come once everything became more hectic in the coming months.
"—a death you brought about," the emissary said.
Zelda nodded absently, not hearing the rest of his sentence.
Everyone else did.
Every guard in the room was moving at once, and Zelda's eyes snapped to attention just in time to see two arrows headed for her chest and stomach.
She felt the impact hard as her brain scrambled to catch up, moving far slower than everyone else.
The impact she'd felt hadn't been arrows. It had been a body.
Her mind was finally catching her up to speed; her peripheral vision had caught Link sliding across the table to get in front of her, and it worked in time, because he jerked backwards onto her, his uniform hat flying off his head.
Zelda let out a shriek as her hands snaked out to catch Link, but it was too fast and they both toppled over with the chair, landing on the ground. She couldn't see anything, but felt Link crawl over her stomach before he went limp. Zelda heard a snapping noise, and a reverberating thud before Link jerked again.
And then it was over.
The guards had the emissary on the ground with a sword through his heart. The ambassador was cowering in a corner, curled up and whimpering while his own guards surrounded him. Half the guards were in front of her and Link now, forming a protective circle in case that wasn't the end.
Zelda breathed out a nervous sigh. "Thank you, Link. Let's get you checked out."
She shook his shoulder, but his face was still pressed into her.
Was he crying? She could feel the front of her dress getting wet.
"It's okay," she whispered, running a hand through his hair. "We're okay."
He didn't move still.
Zelda's heart skipped a beat, and she shook him a little harder, trying to crane her neck from where she was still lying to get a better look at him. "Link?"
There was a guard at her back, trying to haul her away, but she ripped her arm from them and pushed herself up, cradling Link so he didn't fall at her sudden motion.
"Hey, come on. You're crushing me," she whispered, shooing another guard away from her.
She ducked her arms under his and slid her knee underneath them to help keep her upright. Her hand slipped.
It was red, slick, and warm.
"Link?" she asked again, this time her voice trembling over his name on her lips. "Link. Sit up."
When he didn't move, she clutched him harder. "Sit up! Link, that's a command! Get off of me!"
"Your Majesty…" one of the guards tried, bending beside her. "Let me help you up."
But all that Zelda could feel was a shaking gasp when she saw two large arrows sticking out of his back.
Her hand clung to the fabric of his uniform. He had armor on. Right?
Right?
Her hand felt for it first, coming up empty before she finally managed to sit up enough for a proper view of him. Of the blue fabric mixed with red that was spreading out from the puncture wounds.
"Link?"
With a renewed strength, she managed to push Link off of her from where his face had been resting pressed into her chest.
His head dropped back limply against her arm, his eyes wide and unseeing, his mouth open.
This morning, she'd seen him drooling on the pillow. He'd been so peaceful. But now, his rest was anything but. Blood seeped from his mouth and down his chin. The last emotion he'd felt had been pain or fear; it was written in his gaze.
It wasn't registering to Zelda.
Something so impossible can't exist, therefore, it didn't.
Science. That had never failed Zelda before. It wasn't going to fail her now.
"Link, wake up."
She brushed that same strand of his wild hair from his face, as she had that morning. He didn't flinch, didn't move, didn't stir.
Perhaps that was what broke her; he always woke at her touch.
If Zelda had been asked to pick up his long sword, she wouldn't have been able to with her violently trembling hands. They ran down the skin of his cheek, his jaw his neck…
She gasped and pulled her hand away as something prickled against her skin. Something like a splinter.
It took several moments of blinking to clear her vision so she could see what it was.
The broken shaft of an arrow lodged in his neck, straight through to the other side, but jostled and uneven and torn. It was the warmth that seeped from there that she'd thought were his tears, and she looked down at her now-red dress.
Without meaning to, she dropped Link off of her, her arm giving out as she fell backward. A guard must have been behind her because she didn't hit the floor.
Her head whipped around. Link wouldn't have let her hit the floor either. Perhaps it was the wrong man in her arms. Perhaps it was the stress.
"Link?" she breathed, but the brown eyes that met hers were nowhere near Link's.
Turning back, she let out a shriek, taking in the glaze over his bright blue eyes for a long moment before her eyes glued on the two now-broken arrow shafts in his back, snapped by the impact of her dropping him. "What did I do?" The arrows would be pressing so deep into Link. He was hurt, and it was entirely her fault. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
His wide gaze didn't move to her, didn't flinch from the pain, didn't react in any way. She couldn't feel him breathing, but she didn't think that she'd be able to right now anyway, given how much she was shaking.
"Majesty," a knight said, as three others bent beside her. "He's gone."
One of them closed Link's eyes and went to reach for the arrow in his neck before Zelda stopped him. Her eyes burned fire at the guard, like a dragon guarding its hoard. He stepped back immediately while Zelda's confusion turned to determination.
"Get him to the Shrine of Resurrection. Leave those in until you're there. We never managed the logistics of it, but what if he needs to have a certain amount of blood in his body? What if he can't be lingering in the realm between for long? Get him to the Shrine!" The guards looked at each other sheepishly, gentle, soft, sympathetic expressions on their faces. Zelda snapped, "Did you not hear me?"
"Drs. Purah and Robbie have already said the shrine no longer works. They have yet to reactivate it."
"I've got you, Link," she cried, as if the knight had never spoken. She wrapped his hands around her neck and pulled as hard as she could, dragging his dead weight behind her. She grunted with effort, and made it a few steps before collapsing to her knee.
"Majesty? Where are you taking him?"
"To the Shrine! You won't do it, but I will!"
There were more people entering the room, but Zelda didn't even notice them until she spotted the medical bag in one of their hands.
"Help him!" she pleaded, setting Link down and hovering protectively over him. Her brain was reeling from thought to thought. Shaking him hadn't worked. She couldn't get him to the Shrine. The physician was her next best shot.
The physician placed a tentative finger to Link's neck, and another to his wrists before sitting back and sighing. A wave of sorrow washed over him so visibly that Zelda shuddered just looking at him while he sat beside her.
"Do something!" she screeched, the panic finally welling up from her toes to her mouth.
"I'm afraid he's already gone."
"No!" Zelda balked, disgust pouring out of her mouth like venom or blood. "This is the Champion of Hyrule! He's the wielder of the Master Sword! The greatest swordsman in all of Hyrule for two hundred years! He was brought down by an army of Guardians! He isn't going to die from three arrows! Fix him!"
"I can't!" the physician whispered. "The arrow in his neck… the two aftershocks… he was a victim of a marksman's aim. Though… these are rather low for kill shots…"
Zelda pushed herself to her feet and stormed across the room, pulling a guard by the sleeve until they were out of the way. She aimed her hand at the emissary and let out a piercing scream as light filled the room, warming it considerably until the air was dry and burning.
When the light faded, there was nothing left of the emissary but the burnt scorch marks on the ground. Zelda spun around, her hair whipping with her.
"That is what a 'kill shot' looks like."
Everyone watched her in horror.
"Your Majesty, were you wounded?" one of the guards asked.
"No," Zelda snapped, like it was the most offensive question she'd ever been asked. "Link got to me in time! Now repay him by getting him to the Shrine of Resurrection!"
Finally, her knights moved, four of them carefully lifting Link up.
Zelda came undone when his hand slumped limply backwards, contorting in a way that no one who felt pain would ever allow.
No, no that's still okay. He was okay. He's looked like this before, right?
She remembered one night early in the reconstruction when they'd been working in the library to restock the shelves. He'd gotten tired and grabbed a book, throwing his feet up onto one of the couches for comfort reading. And not five minutes later, Zelda caught him asleep with the book open against his chest, and his hand hanging off the couch.
When she'd taken the book from him to set it aside, he'd smiled at her and pulled her down to join him on the ever-too-small surface, stuck tight and entwined so she wouldn't fall. He felt her slip, and he'd spun them around with some difficulty, so she was safely tucked between him and the couch, and he was the only one in danger of falling.
Suddenly, Zelda couldn't breathe, and she clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a sob because her body was still reacting without consent from her mind. Her knees throbbed, and she didn't realize that she'd hit the ground.
"Your Majesty, I really believe you've been injured. Please, let me help you to the physician while they take care of Master Link."
"He's okay."
"Let's make sure you are, too. Come on."
The knight lifted her from under the legs, smearing all the mess of blood over him without a care.
She pressed her face into his neck, easily able to pretend that it could be Link.
"We're going to go back to the orphanage tomorrow," she whispered. The knight's throat vibrated with a response, but her eyes closed of their own accord and she didn't hear him.
Time didn't exist anymore. She opened her eyes several times, closing them again, seeing faces, seeing Link, seeing her father, seeing Impa.
When they opened again, they settled on the physician, who was sitting at her side reading a book about potions. She was in a recovery bed in the clinics ward of the palace.
"What happened?" she asked quickly. "Where's Link?"
The physician leaned forward and took Zelda's hand. "You gave us a scare, Your Majesty. I'm afraid I have some news that you need to know."
Her hand went to her stomach and she winced in pain as she sat up.
"Zelda," he said a bit softer, kinder, "you're with child."
"Yes, I know," she said back, as calmly as if he'd told her the weather.
"You… you know?"
Her eyes were on the door, waiting. "I do. We went to Impa about two months ago for help. Only the three of us know. Well, now you as well."
"I… uh…" the physician stuttered, not expecting that response from her at all. "Well, you nearly lost the child in your grief. We need to keep you rested and safe. We took care of it now, but we'll have to keep monitoring your condition."
"Grief?" she repeated, shaking her head. "Why?"
"Why? Um… that… well… perhaps you'd prefer to rest in your own bed?"
Zelda stared at him through tear-streaked eyes, red and puffy with snot running down her nose. "Where's Link?"
"They're taking good care of him."
"No," she breathed, carefully, realizing that there was a heaviness in her that she never carried. "That… that wasn't real… he's… he's fine."
"I'm afraid it was."
Pushing herself off of the bed, Zelda brushed past the physician and hurried to their room, forcing the door open so hard that a piece of the wood splintered off.
Several people were on her heels, calling and chasing after her, but she was single minded in finding something that proved it was a fake experience, that she'd dreamed it, or even that Link was somewhere in the room waiting for her. She pulled open the closets, seeing his clothes that he'd pick from tomorrow. And his sword was against the bed. And his armor was on the wall.
His armor.
Because they'd been at a diplomatic, ceremonial meal, Link and the other knights were not wearing armor.
Her fingers traced the metal, still polished and pristine.
Her chin was cold, and she wiped a pool of tears off her face, suddenly realizing that the weight on her chest, the inability to breathe normally, was because she'd been sobbing. If it was aloud, she didn't know. She'd felt sorrow. This wasn't the same.
She'd cried hard for those she lost in the past. Those tears were cathartic: a way of physically expelling as much sorrow from her body as possible. But now, the more she cried, the more it hurt, like each tear ripped at her heart a little more, slicing a painful hole straight through the center until it was hollowed out and left to rot.
Rayella was trying to help Zelda, but she pushed the girl away. "Where is it?" she spat, anger and annoyance all over her tone.
Zelda tossed several papers aside with more force than she'd ever used before. They were blocking her, impeding her from her task. Their clothes and books, jewelry, everything, was just cluttered and in the way. She needed it gone, and her hands took care of it, shoving everything she could aside with all her strength until she found her Sheikah Slate where she'd left it on her end table. Her fingers were frantic against the screen.
While Zelda loved all Sheikah tech, Link was peculiarly fond of the camera. He'd follow her around and she'd hear the snap of a picture every few minutes. She'd grab it from him to take pictures of him as well.
The night before, while they were both laughing before bed, they'd taken a picture together. It popped up on the screen, orange in their midnight candle glow, but easy to discern. Link's hand was stretched out, and Zelda was curled against him, laughing mid-word.
She couldn't remember the word. She couldn't remember their conversation. In her memory, it was silent, though their lips moved in her mind.
The Slate fell from her hands as it all hit her at once. She'd done this. He was dead. He was dead because of her. He'd offered her a thousand chances to get away and hide. She'd denied them all, pushing everything back to tomorrow and on. She'd been in a rush, eager to reach tomorrow.
She'd been in a rush.
"Oh Goddess," she sobbed, clutching her hair as she curled up. Rayella's hand was against her, but she couldn't feel it.
Playing through every conversation they'd had all day. They'd woken up and joked. They'd eaten lunch. They'd gone to the orphanage. They'd talked about their child. They'd even talked about death.
He'd even reminded her that life wasn't fair, as if that needed to be punctuated in her mind in that very moment.
She hadn't told him she loved him.
He'd died without hearing that on his last day. He'd died seeing her prioritize everyone else above him.
No, this wasn't fair.
In the echoing silence of her mind, she didn't hear herself screech for everyone to get out of her room. When she finally looked up, she was weak and tired and sore. Her face was stiff, and the light in the room had changed.
Crawling into their bed, she stared at the door, waiting for him to burst through. She didn't know how long she kept her eyes on it, but they were burning by the time she looked away.
She grabbed his pillow, tucking it against herself, smelling the lingering scent of him on the fabric.
It wasn't enough.
Skulking to their closet, she grabbed his shirt from their trip to the orphanage, his Champion's tunic, and curled up on his side of the bed, her nails digging into the mattress as if he were trapped in there and she needed to free him.
It wasn't enough.
Opening up the Sheikah Slate, she set it down, letting a picture of him light up the screen. It was one she'd taken while he was asleep beside her, and she closed her eyes to try to put it all together, to imagine that he could be here with her now.
But the picture didn't move, and her hand reached out to feel nothing but air. There was no body to cling to, or to tuck against, or to latch on to. There were no arms around her waist, no hands brushing away her hair.
It was just a picture.
She'd lost everything. Everyone. The Goddess had given her a reprieve for a few years. She'd thanked Zelda for her service by presenting her with the heartbreak of a hundred years. She'd gifted her the one person she needed, the one she wanted. But he, too, had been on borrowed time in the Goddess' eyes.
It should have been her. He didn't have to be so fast. She'd sacrificed just as much as he had, except for her life. He'd given that once. He shouldn't have had to do it for her again.
Perhaps the Goddess was still listening to her desperation, willing to let Link take a breath and for her to take his place. That was fair. A one-to-one ratio. One death each.
But this? This was not fair.
Now there was nothing. Nothing physical left of him. Of any of them.
When the pillow wasn't enough to hold any longer, she couldn't even tell if she'd kept crying. It didn't matter. If she was screaming every time his name passed through her mind, she didn't care.
Then, there was a sharp pang in her stomach, a harsh reminder that this was taking a physical toll.
This, she thought, her hand running a comforting circle on her stomach.
This was the last physical thing of Link she had left. And she'd nearly lost it too.
Her arms formed a protective barrier between her belly and the rest of the world, and she closed her eyes, clutching her most precious connection left to Link she'd ever have.
A/N: I really just wanted to do a super fast death for Link because it's always so drawn out and dramatic rather than instant. Idk if an arrow to the throat would do it, but I saw it in a movie once, so it must be true!