This was written for Fated: A ZeLink Zine.
It's all come down to this moment.
Zelda stands upon the pedestal, her fingers fidgeting. Her nervousness only worsens when Impa leads Link in. He looks so handsome in her hero's clothes, stern and strong, and full of courage.
And he doesn't even know the extent of it, how she's about to break his heart.
She used to wish for a simpler time when this all began. Being thrown below the clouds, being saved by Impa. Ghirahim and Demise. Gods and Goddesses. Destiny. It's all so needlessly complicated.
But, Zelda knows her duty. There isn't a person better than Link to leave the fate of the Hyrule to. And, if she's lucky, they still might find happiness in the end. The thought is like a soft little murmur in her heart; it's quiet but it tethers her to the here and now.
She relishes it because she doesn't have long.
"You've come so far, Link. I'm glad that you made it," says Zelda, unable to hold back a smile at the sight of him.
"It wasn't easy," says Link, giving her that goofy little half-grin he's so prone to.
Of course not, Zelda thinks. Hylia's never made anything easy for anyone, even herself. Zelda pauses, forgetting that she and Hylia are one and the same. It's still a strange feeling. When she looks at Link now, she doesn't see just her oldest friend and love, she sees the first hero as well. It makes her heart ache.
"I imagine that Impa filled you in on everything," says Zelda.
Link takes a step forward, edging closer to the dais where she stands. "She tried. I'll admit— it's still a little confusing."
Zelda isn't surprised, she expected this. Link is smarter than most and wonderful at solving the most difficult of puzzles, but fate is a complicated matter.
"We've traveled very far from home… to the distant past," says Zelda after a moment. Link's mouth falls open and she holds up a hand. "I know, that's hard to believe but look around us. Behind you is the Gate of Time and you've stepped right through it."
Link's mouth snaps shut, rubbing at the back of his head, trying to process it all. "I suppose that I've seen weirder things."
Zelda huffs a little laugh. Ever the optimist, as always. "Link, all the fairytales we've been told growing up in Skyloft… Incredible as it may seem, they're all too real."
"And I suppose that you're going to explain?" Of course, he already knows. Link's always been incredibly bright. That, and he's been trailing her this entire journey, always just barely catching up with her. He knows Impa wouldn't allow them to meet after all this time unless there's something to be said.
And so, Zelda explains. She talks of the old goddesses and their golden power. She talks of Demise and his threat to their world. She explains the beginnings of Skyloft, and how its people were raised into the sky to save them.
This is a painful story to tell. It's been so long, but the death of her first hero still burns fresh in her chest, the strongest of her recovered memories.
"I set out to pray at the goddess statue in each temple across the land. This was the mantle handed to me by Impa."
"So I've seen," says Link. "We always seem to just miss each other." His tone is lighthearted, slightly amused.
Zelda pauses, her look sympathetic. Impa has become a dear friend, but it hasn't been easy to slight this boy that she loves so dearly. She's wanted to be honest with him from the beginning.
"Each statue stirred memories within me," she says quietly. "You've probably figured it out by now, haven't you, Link?"
Link is a clever man. He's always watched her, ever since they were children. When she fell below the cloudline, he jumped after her without a second thought. When it comes to Zelda, there isn't a person that knows her more than him.
Link's posture tenses slightly. He's unsure how to respond, but his hand finds the sword by his hip. Fingers curl around the hilt in a comforting gesture.
"You are the chosen hero, and I, Zelda, am the Goddess reborn."
He isn't surprised. Link stands there tall and proud, ready to draw his sword at a second's notice. He's been carefully forged into the needed hero, just as the first forged the Master Sword to be the bane of evil.
"What does this mean for us?" he finally asks in a whisper.
Oh, how her heart aches, burning at his words. Zelda and Hylia, now one, their memories awake and fresh in her breast— she cannot separate these feelings.
Everything is twofold now. Zelda's love for Link, and Hylia's love for her hero.
She doesn't want to tell him, she doesn't want to do this. But fate is a pesky thing and it's been foretold far before she graced the world in this mortal form. Perhaps before even Hylia came to be, however it was that she did.
"I will remain here, in this time and place," she tells him. "I will sustain the seal as best as I can."
"Zelda—"
"As long as I continue this vigil, we may be able to prevent the demon king from reviving within our own time."
Link nears the edge of the platform where she stands. Then he climbs it, his sword clacking against the stone tiling as he rights himself. They're toe-to-toe, as close as they'd been the day that she gifted him the sailcloth. Close enough to reach out and touch, perhaps even kiss.
Sailcloths have meanings, just as giving one away does. They both knew it then and they both know it now, and the unspoken feelings that are laid out between them, clear as day.
Link reaches out and takes her hand. His palm is warm around hers, fingers calloused from his days of molding himself into a champion. Unlike her childhood friend but welcome nonetheless.
"It isn't fair," says Link quietly.
"No," says Zelda, her mouth tipping into a frown. "It's never been fair for the two of us. Hylia and her hero suffered as well. Thus is the fate of being those who protect."
Link sighs, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.
"There is a chance this will end well, but—"
"If we don't try, there will be nothing left," cuts in Link, smiling sadly at her.
Zelda swallows thickly, her throat tightening. He's so utterly brave, this man before her; no longer a boy, no longer just her friend.
"During your long journey, you've grown so much. You learned wisdom. You gained power and you tempered both yourself and your sword, just like the first hero. I feel it— her love for him, just as I have my love for you."
It's probably the worst place for such a confession but Link smiles back at her, regardless, pink blooming across his cheeks.
"With this courage and those qualities that reside within you, you are worthy of wielding the power the old goddesses left behind. You can claim the Triforce."
Link looks to her, still holding her hand in his warm grasp. And despite this destiny that she's thrust upon him, despite his newfound knowledge of the role that he must play, he looks so serene as he watches her. Hell k
Zelda bites at her lip and Link chuckles. Then he reaches out, pressing his free hand against her cheek, thumbing softly at the bone there. She can't help the way that she leans into the touch, her eyes slipping closed at the feel of it.
A soft graze, even if it's only for a moment.
Zelda wants to kiss him because this might be the last chance that they get. And perhaps Link does too; he must know that fate is a tricky thing and this might be the only time that they will ever have together, tucked away in this quiet pocket of the past.
He leans forward and presses his lips against her forehead, and Zelda's toes curl at the sweet peck. Zelda's head tips up slightly and his hand finds her jaw. She opens her eyes and he's just watching her again before he bends close once more.
Sparks don't fly as they do in romance books, but it's everything that Zelda could have asked for. A gentle kiss, a simple press of their lips together. Down-to-earth and no fuss, just like Link. When he pulls away, he presses their foreheads together, savoring the feel of it, of her.
He doesn't need to say that he loves her back; Zelda already knows. She feels it deep within her heart and bones. This is fate for them as well, the way that they've come back together, written in the stars by Hylia's very own hand.
"Link," says Zelda after a moment. "It's time for me to bless your sword with the Goddess's power."
Neither of them wants to part, it's clear. He lingers for as long as possible before he pulls away. And then he crouches before her, knee hard against the solid stone of the Temple floors. And as always, Link doesn't complain.
She doesn't deserve such reverence.
This time, it's Zelda who takes his hand, her fingers sweeping over his softly before she turns it palm-side down. There's a mark. Two faded triangles set next to a third that glowed with brilliant light. Zelda smiles, a small and knowing thing, as Link looks at it with awe.
"Here it is," she says. "This mark you see upon your hand is proof that you are the hero of legend. Sacred power dwells within you. It was the mark of the Triforce. Now stand, Link. Draw your sword."
Zelda hesitates once he's upright. Her brow furrows the tiniest bit and Link is already reaching for her.
"Zelda—"
"I feel as though I owe you an apology," says Zelda, unexpectedly. "The Triforce on your hand is a symbol of the greatest power in this world. And, if you obtain the actual Triforce, we will have the power to vanquish Demise once and for all."
"Isn't that the point?" asks Link. "Isn't that what fate has asked of us?"
Us, thinks Zelda. He takes her hand once more, repeating her earlier motion, thumbing across the ridge of her knuckles. Showing her the glowing power that she already knows is there. Zelda has spent many a night watching the soft gleam of it in her loneliness.
"Among the countless souls in this world, Link, only a select few can wield its might— those with an unbreakable spirit. To face Demise, Hylia needed someone as such, and that someone is you, Link. But spirit alone isn't enough. You've overcome many trials to awaken the hero within yourself, just so you can wield that supreme power."
She bites at her lip again, a nervous little tick. "Hylia… I mean, I, knew that if it meant saving Zelda, you would throw yourself headfirst into any danger without a moment's notice. I… used you."
It's quiet for a long moment as Link holds her hand, watching the back of her palm. Watching the Triforce of Wisdom pulse ever so slightly.
"I chose to do so," says Link finally.
And Zelda knows this is true. Link might've taken a tumble beneath the clouds to find her, but everything that's come of it has been from the kindness of his heart. A true hero in their time of need, selfless even now.
"Link, I can't say it enough, how sorry that I am—"
"I chose to do it," repeats Link, this time looking at her face. "To save you, to save the world. To fight Demise. These are choices that I would make time and time again, as long as it means you are safe."
Zelda feels her lips wobble at his dedication. She takes a deep breath as he steps back and unsheathes his sword. He holds it aloft as he waits patiently.
She lets Hylia guide her. Zelda lets loose her power, infusing it within the sword. It floods the room, the temple, even the past; an eruption of Wisdom and Hylia's might, folded into this magnificent weapon.
And when she's done, the sword gleams brilliantly. Link tests the balance, marveling at the feel of it. The True Master Sword, made for only him to wield. No matter the era, no matter the time. Only for Hylia's hero.
It's a feeling of rightness that floods through her chest, accompanied by pure love for this man who's so faithful to her, even with the hardship she's thrust upon him.
Her first hero was the same, and every hero from henceforth will be no different. How lucky Zelda is to have found such pure, terrific, and true love. "I am prepared to pay the price for what I've done," she says.
Link sheathes the sword and steps close to her again. "I know," he says softly.
"To ensure that the seal holds, I will remain here in this time—"
Link starts at that, scrambling to climb the steps as she backs away. "Wait," he starts, going after her.
But it's too late. They both know it. Zelda calls forth Hylia's power once again and this time it isn't a loving, subtle glow; it's bright wisdom and the power of the goddesses of old, burning through her body. It wraps around her, hardening as it encases her. She can feel her blood start to slow, sluggish in her veins.
Link pounds against the crystal she's cloaked in, frantic and harried. Oh, how she doesn't want to do this. Oh, how Zelda wants to live a normal life and just be with the man that she loves.
Fate is a fickle mistress to everyone she touches.
"While I am Hylia reborn," says Zelda, causing Link to pause and listen, "I'm still my father's daughter and your friend. I'm still your Zelda and I will always love you. When there is no need for this seal, when Demise is truly gone, I'll be able to wake up."
"Zelda—"
"Ever since we were kids, I've been the one to wake you up. So I have a favor to ask, sleepyhead. When all of this is over, will you be the one to come and wake me?"
Like her romance books that she's always been utterly besotted with. Tales of heroes and princesses, and kisses that change the world.
Link stops his fight against her power, pressing his hand flat against the crystal. "I love you," says Link, his voice hoarse. "I'll come for you. Always."
Zelda presses her hand against his and even with the crystal between them, she swears she can feel their love transcend it.
Until then, she thinks. Goddesspeed, Link, my hero, my loved one. There isn't a doubt in her heart that it will be okay, that she'll wake up to his kind face and the world saved.
The last thing she sees before her slumber starts is his smile, calming her as she slowly fades into sleep.