Of course this is a romance, that's what I like, but it's also a mystery ^_^ heh heh hehhh.
Enjoy, friends!
(Ah-hem, I don't own The Legend of Zelda ~_~)
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Rain fell heavily on the castle, nothing was visible past a few feet but still someone stood looking off the balcony. Looking for a sign, a signal, for hope. Water rolled off the figure's clothes in sheets, a few lone drops clung to the closed eyelashes.
"Zelda dear, come out of the rain!"
The voice seemed distant to her, as if she was imagining it. A touch on her shoulder confirmed reality though.
"Please miss, come in. You'll catch your death."
"I can't
come in. I have to wait for him..."
Impa placed her hands on Zelda's slender, thoroughly soaked shoulders. The princess continued staring off through the downpour. She put one of her small hands on top of her nursemaid's elderly ones. She felt the defined wrinkles and knuckles of her caretaker's hands and sighed.
"He wont come in this weather, now in you go," Impa gave Zelda a gentle shake and steered her back to her room.
"Dear, you're frozen. Take those clothes off and I'll get you something dry." Impa unzipped Zelda's gown for her and walked to the closet.
The princess stood in her underthings, still staring out the window. A great clap of thunder made Impa jump, Zelda didn't move. The nursemaid returned after a minute of searching with a dry gown in hand.
There, that's better," Impa said as she helped the princess into a frilly blue dress and fastened it. Zelda didn't notice how cold she was until the warm fabric touched her skin. "Aren't you cold Impa?" She asked. That was a silly question, Zelda knew Impa used her Sheikah magic to repel the rain.
"Not at all dear," She replied with a smile. "Here, let me get your hair dry."
"No thanks, I can do it." Zelda placed her hands just above her hair, white sparks spilled from her fingers and down the wet locks, drying her silken-blonde hair instantly.
".....Keep forgetting you can do that, hah," Impa laughed gently. Her laugh was like a bell chiming in some far off tower, mystical and soft.
The nursemaid picked up the wet clothes from the floor. A few drips rolled off the dress and hit the smooth marble floor in unison with a tear from the princess's eye.
"When is he coming back Impa?" Zelda asked and suddenly threw herself on her feather bed. It had been a year since he left, she waited for him everyday on her balcony, certain he will return. The princess lay on the bed for a moment then reached under her silk pillows and extracted a miniature oil portrait of him. She kissed the image and placed it back under the pillows.
"How am I to know when that boy is coming? He writes you, so you tell me." Impa returned crossly as she continued drying the wet dress with her magic.
"Impa, I was joking," Zelda sighed and began to play with the long silk drapes hanging around her bed. These sudden mood swings from depressed to playful were anticipated from her lately, Impa had given up trying to guess the princess's next mood. "In his letters, it doesn't seem like he knows when he'll be back either," With another great sigh, Zelda got out of bed and walked again to the window.
An exasperated nursemaid shut the window hangings so Zelda couldn't see out.
"Why did you do that?!"
"Zelda dear, your obsessing. Link won't be back today, maybe not even tomorrow. He will come when he is done and no sooner. Come on, out, out! You need to leave your room, stretch your legs. Go!"
The nursemaid ushered a reluctant Zelda out of her stuffy chamber and down the stairs to the main entry of Hyrule Palace.
"What do you expect me to do?" Zelda whined as Impa walked out of the hall.
"Find something to do!" Was the irritated answer.
Zelda paced for a moment and then sat on the grand staircase below the front entry of the castle. How could a seventeen year old girl be expected to entertain herself in an empty room? She leaned forward and set her delicate face in her hands, so very bored, hoping for someone to appear from some corridor with something for her to do. Not many people came into the castle anymore, there weren't many people left. Illness, the Black Plague, had wiped out half of Hyrule's population. The entire village of Kakariko had disappeared, now a ghost town. Zelda remembered the sick room in the castle, she had to enter it briefly to say goodbye to her mother.
The sick room wasn't much more than a dungeon where they quarantined the ill. Zelda remembered the cold stone walls that sunlight had never seen, the muddy floor and small beds, the thought made her shiver. Her mother had been held there like a common pheasant, nobody bothered to make it nice for the Queen. There wasn't much chance for her mother after she caught the plague, the only doctor left was ill himself. Zelda regretted more than anything not trying to take care of her mother, the only time she saw her while she was sick was to say goodbye, goodbye forever. Though the epidemic had waned and Zelda was trying to block the memories, all the rotting, decaying, the pain and infection of that room would still stay in her mind forever, as a gruesome sign of the times.
Link left her a year ago, when people first started getting sick. But illness was not the reason he departed, war had taken Zelda's lover from her, a war between Hyrule and her sister country, Termina. Zelda couldn't find any logic behind the war, behind any war.
A drip fell from the ceiling and landed on the princess's nose. "Stupid castle," She growled.
Zelda was about to get up and find something to occupy her time when the giant castle doors burst open. The wind whipped rain onto her back and extinguished the torches. She turned to see who or what had entered her castle. Thoroughly soaked, it was a man, he was tall and muscular. She couldn't see his face because of the lack of light, but she could see his clothes. A tunic and hat, red. A shield and sword held loosely in the person's hands.
"Link!" Zelda yelled over another round of thunder.
Lightning illuminated the sky behind him, forming a perfect silhouette. Link walked in slowly and then shoved the heavy door closed behind him.
"Oh Link! You're back!!" Zelda squealed and latched herself to his neck. He stood stiffly for a moment before pushing her away.
"What? Where is my hug? What's wrong?" Zelda inquired. "I haven't seen you in a year and you won't even hug me?"
"Where is your father?" Links voice seemed different, hollow and just plain creepy.
Zelda stepped back, placed her hands on her hips and frowned suspiciously at him.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I need to see the King, where is he?"
"Link! Do you not see me? What are you staring at? You can't see father, he's not feeling well. Goddesses know we need him to stay well, what with this epidemic upon us and all. The last thing he needs right now is excitement."
Link smiled maliciously, his eyes were cold and unfocused. The crystal-blue orbs weren't shining as usual. They usually held a childlike spirit, a constant glow, but they now seemed steely and mean. Something was wrong.
"What's going on Link?" Zelda asked, stepping forward and placing a hand on his chest. He looked at her hand, then into her concerned eyes then pushed her touch away. There was a sharp sound of metal on metal as the gauntlet on his arm came in contact with Zelda's bracelets.
Now angered, Zelda gave up and turned away from him. She didn't know what had gotten into him! Perhaps she was dreaming? Surely her Link wouldn't act like this, not in a million years.
Without another word, Link brushed past her in the direction of his room, tracking mud and water across the floor. Zelda wouldn't see him again till morning.
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Hmm....I think it could go places. But what I think doesn't matter as much as what you think so please review!