Author´s Note:
I´m sorry for the unexpected hiatus! I never intended to go away for two months, but I kept putting it off every week. Work as always gets in the way of the muse, but I´m finally back on track. I was going to give you the funeral straight away, but I ended up writing this odd chapter. It may be a miss more than a hit, but I liked it a lot.
I should warn any newcomers, there´s explicit n-u-d-i-t-y in this chapter.
I promise I´m almost done with flashbacks (unless you like them, in which case: I´m sorry! I´m almost done with the flashbacks!)
Enjoy!
Chapter XV
Peaches
They passed some zora across the bridge. Many called out for Link, smiling at him, others waved and one zora kid merely raised his head, as did Link while walking. She supposed he was pretty familiar with Link, but he didn´t elaborate. She was still thinking about that fateful day, she felt the familiar ache between her eyebrows that came from frowning for a long time, and this bridge was as long as she remembered it to be. She let out a sigh that seemed to carry all the sadness and melancholly she was feeling. Link squeezed her hand.
"I´m really sorry we weren´t friends back then. It must´ve been hard for you", he said, stopping in his tracks. He leaned on the railing, looking at the cliff in front of them. She shook her head, a sad smile crossed her face.
"Not more than it was for you", she said looking at him. Link shrugged and took in a long breath.
"Thinking of you is what helped me go through it all, actually", Link said, smiling at her. She frowned.
"Of... me?", he had never talked much about losing his father in the Calamity. All she knew is that Link loved him and admired him to the point of devotion; and if her memory did not fail her, Lord Nioisal cared deeply for him too. Link never told her otherwise.
"I remember thinking that even after losing your mother, you could be the Princess of the entire Realm, then I was going to be okay". He smiled as if he was not telling her everything he thought. She didn´t pry.
"Link, I-", she said, "you don´t have to do this", the words fell flat. Not quite voicing what she actually felt. Link had loved Mipha, and Zelda knew it. He shrugged again, taking her hand again.
"No", he said, taking her by surprise, "I don´t have to". He pulled her gently by the hand. They started to walk again. "But I want to". He squeezed her hand again as the statue of Mipha greeted them at the plaza.
The night after the Queen died, his father had entered through the rickety wooden door of their house, but something else about him never made it home. The harshness he probably felt on himself only translated as abuse and pressure on Link. The flurry of events that ensued, made it pretty difficult for him to make any friends, let alone befriend the princess. The only time he had found some peace of mind had been the time he had spent at the clearing inside the Korok Forest. He´d been around ten or eleven years of age the first time he ventured there, escorted by the King´s Royalguardsmen, his father among them.
A humongous talking tree was not something he´d seen very often.
"Come forth, child", a deep voice had beckoned him. The trunk had some carvings and branches that made it look as if it had a face... "I have been waiting for the Hero that will finally take this Blade and awake it from it´s deep slumber". The tree smiled at him, sending shivers through his spine.
"Who are you?", he asked. Not moving an inch closer to the talking tree.
The wind carried an odd sound with it, clinking and clicking, whistling and shouting. Only it wasn´t shouts he was hearing, it was laughter. Many little wooden creatures had come out from out of nowhere and were laughing at him. The enormous talking tree joined them. His laughter sounded as if some creature roared in the distance, it was eerie, but oddly contagious.
"I hope you can excuse our lack of manners", he said. "But we´ve been waiting for a long time". Link nodded, still waiting for an answer.
"I have had many names through the eons, as my children have. But your people know me as the Great Deku Tree". The tree cleared his non-existent throat. His answer had no sense to Link whatsoever.
"But...", he mumbled, "I still don´t know who you are", he asked again, looking at a particularily curved branch above the tree´s eyebrow. "Sorry", he added.
"Ah, I see. You are correct. I have said nothing of importance to you", for a moment, Link thought the Great Deku Tree had fallen asleep, with no sound other than the wind moving his branches in a lazy way. "I am a guardian", he stated. "I have looked over many generations of rulers of this Realm you now call Hyrule, some Kings or Queens come to seek for my advice. Not all of them were good", for some reason the features of the ancient tree looked saddened, or nostalgic. "My familiy´s story is intertwined with the tale of the Hero and the Goddess.
"I am the guardian of the blade that rests before you".
He walked slowly towards the stone pedestal upon which the sword was embeded. His fingers were almost touching the hilt when the tree spoke yet again.
"You should proceed with caution, child. Many have tried to take it out, and none have succeeded. The blade will test you, if it trusts you, you shall be able to wield it. If it doesn´t...", the voice of the Great Deku Tree faded.
Link remained silent. His heart was pumping so hard he could see his chest jumping up and down. His fingers finally closing in and around the hilt. a white bright light filled his eyes, or maybe it was his mind. He looked down, but found nothing. He held his hand up, but there was nothing. He was nothing.
"Master...", a voice called the same word over and over again. It was unlike anything he had heard before. It was speaking to his spirit, and he heard the voice deep within himself. Within his soul.
When he was able to open his eyes again, he was laying on the ground. The sword was still there, still embeded into the stone pedestal.
"It seems, you do not yet possess the strength to wield it. Though I sensed it spoke to you. Did you hear it?". Link had just gotten to his feet.
"I... think so", he stuttered. "I don´t know", he admitted. "May I try again?", he asked. More to the sword than to the Deku Tree. He had a feeling inside his gut that the sword agreed. He grabbed it´s hilt again and everything went black this time.
When he woke up, he was inside a brightly lit room, with steel archways and intricate decorated windows. A pair of big green eyes greeted him.
"Pri-princess... Mipha?", the big green eyes blinked once and squinted the way eyes did whenever one smiled.
"Hello", Mipha whispered.
A rib-cracking hug brought him back to reality, as Sidon laughed heartily at Zelda´s worried gasp. Link had not let go of her hand accidentaly, and now Zelda looked like some sort of rag doll, holding on to Link´s whole arm.
"It´s so good to see you again, Sidon!", Link managed to say. Zelda slowly slided downwards, the zora prince was twice as tall as them.
"My dear friend!", Sidon exclaimed. "You have no idea how good it is to see you", he said, lowering him down and looking at them both. "My father has become nothing short of a nuisance, what with this farce of a funeral they intend to make for my sister, and the sudden urgency to find a suitable female to marry. I can´t sleep. I can´t eat. I can´t breathe. You need to help me", he drew in a long breath after barraging them with his worries. His gills opened wide and closed a few times after that,
"I-what?", Link sputtered. Sidon looked intently at him, and then at Zelda.
"Just... I´m really happy you´re finally here, c´mon". He sighed, crestfallen. He started for the palace, they followed him closely.
"Prince Sidon?", Zelda asked midway through the stairs leading up to the throne room, where King Dorephan surely awaited.
"Please, princess. Just call me Sidon, I´m barely a hundred years old". He said. Brandishing a ghost of his once radiant and shiny smile.
"Er... Sidon. Right.", she said. Seemingly scolding herself, for some reason. "Why exactly is it so imperative that you find a... companion?". Link and Zelda had to walk faster than the zora, since the crimson prince was twice their size. Sidon scoffed and cleared his throat.
"My father wants grandchildren. Simple as that. If you ask him though, he will tell you another story", he added bitterly. Link found it odd, Sidon and King Dorephan always had a friendly and loving relationship. It had only been six months since he had last seen them. Surely there was an explanation.
"Oh", was all that Zelda replied.
They marched in silence until they reached the enormous archway, gleaming against the sunlight as if it were made of water. The towering figure of the Zora monarch shifted from his throne as he saw them enter the temple sized single room. Many zora (familiar and unknown) were chatting peacefully. A goron was sitting under a column nearby, looking lost and out of place. Two or three zora younglings were bombarding him with all sorts of questions.
"Do you really eat rocks?"
"Is it true male and female gorons look the same?"
"Don´t be stupid Rheya, everyone knows female gorons have smaller heads."
"My dad works with a goron and actually asked him, that´s a lie!"
The poor goron merely laughed and zoned out as the children kept on arguing. The echo of their voices mingling with the many other conversations taking place. Quite suddenly, a booming noise carried itself all the way to his ears, shaking his brains and bones.
"LINK M'BOY!", King Dorephan boomed. Link saw the resemblance between father and son. He smiled and the trio walked towards the throne. The room was suddenly silent. His ears were starting to burn. Zelda held his hand, unexpectedly. It was a welcome sensation.
"Father, as we requested. The Princess of Hyrule, Zelda, and her appointed knight, have come". Sidon said lazily. His father regarded the prince with a blank expression.
"I see", he said. Link honestly thought, they must´ve seemed so small, that King Dorephan hadn´t seen Zelda. The giant king bowed his head to Zelda. "We are honoured to have you here, highness", he paused and said, "the good news of your defeat of the Calamity have reached us. It brings us much joy to know, our beloved Princess Mipha is now, finally, resting in peace". Zelda´s expression remained as regal and kind as Link´d seen her in Gerudo City.
Zelda´s eyes darted for a split second toward Link´s. Looking up at the king, she said, "The honor is ours, Your Majesty. We miss our friend dearly, and we´ve come to pay our respect". She bowed and took a step back. The king smiled fondly at her, as if he deemed her words as true. He then adressed Link.
"My dear boy. My son made sure I knew (more than once) that I should leave the past where it belongs. And that it would bring you much pain to hold the funeral of my beloved daughter, all these years later. My son would have his people let the past be the past, but my son is young, and does not fully comprehend, that our people need closure. We, zoras, are a people of memories, and a mere statue will not suffice, for my daughter was very much loved by her people... as well as her family...", King Dorephan and Prince Sidon shared a tense silence. "I know my daughter loved you dearly, as you well know, she made the armor for you, the highest form of love our family knows. But, I must say, I do not remember that you ever shared or voiced the very same feelings". Sidon cleared her throat loudly.
The king´s words stung him. He felt an odd lump forming in the back of his throat. Zelda squeezed his hand. A gesture that didn´t go unnoticed by the King. Link squeezed her hand back, and let go. He stood forward, the colossal king leaned slightly, as if they were in confidence. Sidon and Zelda looked at eachother.
"Your Majesty", Link began. The King waved one of his giant arms and shook his head, "You don´t need to say 'your majesty' every time you talk to me, m´boy. I regard you as another son. You are Sidon´s brother, for all I care", he said and he smiled at him.
"Right", he began, awkwardly. "Your Ma-, er... Sir. I was another person entirely when your daughter and I first met", the memories of her big green eyes came crashing to his mind´s eye like waves on a cliff. "I loved your daughter with all my heart". It was the first time he voiced his feelings for Mipha. He hoped she was listening, somehow. "I was raised by a broken man. I never learned to say what I felt. All I ever knew was to do as I was told, and when your daughter and I met, I felt some of that old me faded away. Still, I struggled talking to her, but, deep down she always knew, I think", he felt as if he could have said it better, with fancier words, or slower, or clearer. But the king didn´t seem to care about those things. He nodded.
"I still remember the first thing my Mipha said to me after we saw you at that tournament. Did she ever tell you?", the king asked. He was almost whispering. Link shook his head.
" 'He might look like a little shrimp to you, father. But that boy is going to win the torunament'. I remember she wouldn´t keep her eyes off of you, if my memory serves me right, you were facing off against one of our own, Seliel. He was one of our best warriors. It was a sight to behold.
"So all those years later, my Mipha kept looking at you with the same intensity. An intensity I had thought unmatched, until this very moment", King Dorephan looked calmly to where Zelda was standing, awkwardly looking around her. Every zora was looking at her.
"Er-", Link began, awkwardly. The king smiled fondly at him.
"It is not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. Its been more than a hundred years, after all. We´re indebted with the dead, to make the most of our lives. For them, and for us.", he placed his enormous hand over his head, lightly as a feather. "This kind of love is rare. Never let go if you can". His seemingly minute eyes became misty for a moment, and then snapping out of his reverie, he smiled again. This time he spoke louder, so everyone could hear him.
"Very well. I think it is time for our guests to be taken to their chambers. My son will clear any doubts you have regarding the funeral of my daughter". And with that, he waved lazily at someone behind them all, and the doors (which had closed behind them), opened again. Sunlight bathed the entire room. Link chanced one last look at the king. King Dorephan smiled again at him, and nodded.
What King Dorephan had apparently forgotten to mention, was that Link and her were to share a chamber. Sidon had offered to escort them, obviously. He had barely spoken, the rift between his father and him was something she didn´t understand, and at the same time, she knew exactly how it felt. What she couldn´t get her mind around was, the reason for the current distancing between them. As far as she remembered, Sidon had always been very outspoken, and amiable. An extrovert. This behavior was unlike him.
"I apologise for the... ah, inconvinience", he began, when they arrived to their room, a few minutes later. "We reserved our most comfortable room for you. Father wishes he could have arranged for another room, so you wouldn´t have to share, but people all over Hyrule have come. And Gorons take a lot of space, see."
Link was also very silent, but she noticed he threw odd looks at her when he thought she wasn´t looking. Sidon cleared his throat and with a curt nod to them, he left them to discover the room themselves.
"Well, that was something", she said, half smiling. Link mirrored her awkward expression.
"Yeah".
A guard standing next to the door, opened it for them. Zelda walked in first, thanking the guard as she did so. The zora merely nodded.
An enormous bed stood in the middle of the room, which was surrounded by all sorts of furniture, some she could name, some she could not. Behind the bed a wide arching window offered them a view of the Great Zora Bridge. She leant forward and she could make out the top of the Throne room´s ceiling. That fish fin was unmistakeable.
"Which side do you want?", she said turning around. Link had barely walked one or two steps inside and looked like a tomato with golden curls.
"By the Goddesses!", she laughed. "Link, I won´t bite you, why are you being weird all of a sudden?".
"Apologies, Your Highness", he said, walking three or four steps to where she was. They were still at least one zora´s height apart. She raised a brow, but didn´t tease him further.
"So... Which side do you prefer?", she asked again. Link blinked once or twice. She saw him gulp slowly.
"Whichever side is fine, Highness", he said in a monotone voice, looking intently at his feet. She sighed in defeat.
"I like the rightside better", she said, tossing her small bag over the right side of the bed. Link was still standing there.
"Link, I know this is highly unorthodox. But I promise, its O-K for you to behave like yourself again, and not like a stone. Please?", she almost begged. The situation was awkward as it was, but her bubble knight was making things worse. Of course she had thought about the same thing, and her insides had made a somersault the moment she saw the one bed at the center of the room, but what use was there in pointing the obvious out? Had she hoped for the closeness this offered? Yes. She couldn´t deny it. Did she expected it to happen so soon? No, absolutely not. But it couldn´t be helped.
"I- you´re right", he stuttered. Walking to his side of the bed, he dropped his own travelbag to the ground, and sat. She could only make out the back of his head, but she could almost see the thoughts forming inside his head.
"That´s quite the view, you should check it out", she said. He jerked up at the sound of her voice, he turned ever so slightly to where she was and nodded, only to get up and look out of the windows.
"That´s quite the view", he repeated.
The sun was begining its descent, but for some reason she felt exhausted, Link looked like he could use some rest too, after all, he still had some healing to do. Zelda searched the room and noticed a folding screen on the far end of the room, on the other side was a big bowl with water and an enormous stone basin, which she took for a tub. Not wanting to give Link a heart attack, she merely changed into her night clothes, thanking the Goddesses for her idea to bring her sheikah clothes too. A nightgown would have been hard to pass by, Link would surely refuse to sleep in the same bed if she wore anything like that.
When she came out of the dressing side of the room, Link was laying on the floor, with nothing underneath but the cold stone floor. He had apparently changed too, while she did the sam, and like her, he was wearing the classic white cotton sheikah clothes.
"Nayru, Farore and Din, have mercy on me!", she exclaimed. Link opened his eyes, and looked at her. He smiled at her sheepishly.
"Link, I will not sleep on this bed until you act like a sensible hylian and get in bed", she said, frustrated. He shook his head. Zelda actually let out a raspy loud noise, voicing her almost uncontrollable feeling of smacking Link´s head with a pillow.
"How old are you? three?", she said. All humor left her voice now. He was so irritating sometimes. This kind of behavior reminded him of the 'old' Link. "Don´t make me order you", she warned.
The thick knight, finally sat up and after a moment´s consideration, he sighed in defeat.
"Fine", he admitted. "I won´t say I was more comfortable here on the floor". He got up and as if forgetting he wasn´t alone, he snuggled the white sheets. He looked like a small child. Zelda held the bridge of her nose and shook her head.
"You´ll be the death of me if you do these things again!", she walked to her side of the bed. He actually looked hurt at her words.
"Don´t say that", he pleaded. She didn´t know what to say after that. The moment grew longer and suddenly she felt as awkward as a teenager. For a long while both of them just laid there, facing the ceiling. The gentle sound of the waterfalls outside was all that she heard. When she decided she didn´t feel awkward anymore, she turned to her right. Link had not moved an inch, and looked stiff as a table.
"Are you asleep?", she asked tentatively. He opened his eyes and shook his head. The bed could fit three gorons comfortably, and her Appointed Knight was laying almost over the edge of the bed. She sighed again.
The feeling of cool bedsheets over her bare feet was one of the feelings she missed the most, and one she never felt at the scorching heat of the desert. She felt so comfortable that she started to giggle. Under the cover of the pearly white sheets, both of them looked like a pair of heads without a body, merely floating in a white nothingness.
"I missed this", she said, almost whispering. He turned his head, his expression was quizzical.
"I missed the feeling of clean cool sheets over my feet! Didn´t you?", she exclaimed. Link blinked once or twice and smiled.
"Yeah, I know what you mean". He rolled over to his side and faced her. "I want to apologize in advance". She furrowed her brow. "I share a single trait with Hinoxes", he replied to her non-verbal question. She laughed quietly and shook her head.
"It doesn´t bother me, the moment I close my eyes, I´m done for. Don´t worry", she lied. Her heart was pounding so hard she could actually see the fabric over her shoulder move up and down ever so slightly. She hoped that Link couldn´t see that. Wanting the day to end already, she whispered 'Goodnight', and rolled over to the other side. Looking at Link, was the opposite of soothing right now.
"Sleep well, Princess", he whispered back. A little while later she heard the sheets shuffle. He had done the same.
Blurry visions of naked bodies, tongue kissing and many other things he had only heard about while sleeping at the barracks, back in the garrison, Link woke up... just after that one body part that always beat him to stand up. He had not wanted to open his eyes, merely feeling his body slowly wake up and his thoughts clearing by the minute. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed his side of the bed looked like a very small ranch, pole and everything.
He hastily turned to his left side, only to feel a deep sense of dread, as a golden haired maiden was sound asleep, they could not be more than half an arm apart, and not only that, but Zelda´s hand was resting suspiciously close to where his shoulder had been moments before. The princess shuffled a bit in her sleep, frowning for a while and then sighing. Link was bewitched by this newfound experience. Waking up next to someone; and not just someone, but the Royal Princess of Hyrule. Zelda unconsciously shrugged in her sleep and the fabric of her sheikah jacket moved just enough to reveal more skin than he had ever seen. A small pink nipple atop a round and soft looking breast was the vision that greeted him.
He swallowed hard. His breath became ragged and his erection did nothing to go away. His mouth was watering.
NO! She is the Princess! And more importantly, she trusts you! You shouldn´t be looking at her bare breasts, it doesn´t matter if it was not on purpose!
Link closed his eyes with force, feeling his eyelids sting after a while, and regaining control of himself. He heard the princess turn around again, and he felt his muscles relax.
'I can´t do this for another night, there´s no way!' He thought to himself.
Link chastised himself for a long while, guilt and shame covered him over the cotton white blanket. He felt undeserving of Zelda´s trust. He decided he would make an excuse to find another room, this wasn´t right, not even if he loved her. She still was the Princess and he owed himself to her, completely.
He got up, not wanting to look at her again until she changed clothes, or covered herself. He decided that changing into his champion´s clothes and waiting outside was the best course of action. He could also look for some breakfast, and if Zelda questioned his absence it was more than an okay excuse to be missing.
Fitting his leather boots, he grabbed his sword and set out to look for some breakfast. Suddenly he craved peaches.
A/N 2:
Peaches.
Nothing more to say.
