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Addendum to
:: Bridge The Ocean ::
A Legend of Zelda Vignette
By LauraCeleste
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I wrote this small flashback scene to go between the first and second sections of BtO, but removed it at the last minute. I thought the story just flowed better without it, but it does give a nice example of the irrationality of BOTH parties involved, and so I thought I'd post it as an addendum, "recommended reading" of sorts. Compare your own opinions of Zelda's and Link's behavior here with Zelda's opinion from BtO, and you'll find the essence of the story. Above all, I hope you enjoy it.
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"You wouldn't dare," the princess spat, stomping her foot.
"Your highness, you know I want you to come...." Link sat in an armchair with his elbows on his knees, holding his pounding temples wearily.
"Oh, don't you start!" Zelda was livid, shrieking like a banshee. "You call me Zelda. And no, you don't want me to come. You asked me to come, but now you want to go alone."
"Zelda, we've been through this," he groaned. "I want you to come, but you know as well as I do...."
"Goddesses, Link...really," the princess snapped, her skirts seething as she
paced back and forth before him. "Of all your virtues, patience is the weakest. Is it really so hard for you to wait a year, maybe a little longer?" After his peevish sigh, Zelda put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "But then again, I suppose I'm not worth waiting for, to you."
"You can't expect me to wait on you, Zelda. If I wait another minute, I'll end up waiting forever."
Zelda only snorted, doing her best to hide the whimper that would rather have
escaped. She stared wrathfully into his eyes, eyes whose amiability she had always treasured, but were now dull and exasperated. He was angry with her. Confusion filled every corner of her mind; but he loves me, she thought. To her young heart, those words meant the world. How could he be angry with her?
"You're angry with me," she stated, incredulously.
"I'm not," he said, standing and making a move to embrace her, but she shied away. He seemed none too pleased at her evasive maneuver. "I'm not mad at you, dearest, I'm not. It's just...this trip is very important to me. You know that I've wanted this since I was a child."
"Well, you once told me that I was very important to you, Link. That you loved me. But in this light, I see that I am not, and you do not."
"You're being irrational," he chided. Zelda was dumbfounded at his coldness.
"Irrational?" She shrieked, poking him in the chest. "My papa just died, Link, but I barely get time to miss him, because I have to stop being a kid and start being a queen." There was a resigned sob in her voice, but she held her composure. "I'm not able to run away on a whim and follow a childish fantasy, like you."
"Are you calling me childish?"
"I am," she retorted resolutely. Link's mouth opened to retort further, but he stopped it with a quick shake of his head. Zelda, however, was not finished. "Furthermore, Link, one year. Only one year!"
"Zelda, be realistic...."
"No, you be realistic! My father didn't look too favorably on this trip in the first place, but he was going to let me go. Now we've had a setback. A pretty large setback, in my opinion. And you're unwilling to wait the time it would take for me to get my crown and help my kingdom ease through the transition?
"I've explained my reasoning to you, Zelda. The thing that would make us wait is the thing that would keep us from ever going. I'll come back eventually; it's not that I'm going away forever, really. But I am going, and nothing will stop me."
Zelda blanched. She resisted the urge to cry, to beg him to reconsider. Instead, she spoke her mind. "Fine. You go off on your little adventure. Go away, and don't ever come back. Goodbye, farewell, and all that."
"You don't mean that," he whispered.
"Oh, I do. I do," she said, nodding her head. "The sooner the better."
It was Link's turn to blanch and gape. He could think of nothing to say. It was fortunate, for Zelda could not hear over the buzzing in her ears. She stomped past him and threw open her chamber door.
"In fact, you should start now," she commanded, and he obeyed. She watched nonchalantly as he passed, then she slammed the door, fell against it, and sobbed uncontrollably.
~Finis of Addendum~
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Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated but not demanded.
~~@~~LauraCeleste~~@~~
the_lone_gungirl@yahoo.com
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