WARNING
Major spoilers for the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ahead! Please reconsider reading this story if you are yet to finish the game. You have been warned!
A/N: A reminder that I still have a life. A very busy one in fact, I barely get time to write on weekdays. If you like my work, it would be appreciated if you have some patience waiting for the next chapter. I care for this story very much and I wouldn't abandon it while it's so close to being finished. Seriously I can't freaking wait to write Zelda's awakening lol.
Just a little heads-up. Thank you!
The rain splattered against Link's worn-out boots, damp and uncomfortable against his tired feet. A wild desperation never felt before was burning hard in his chest, urging him on and giving him a motivation stronger than naught to keep running. He could feel Zelda's fragile hand in his grasp, and her feared, terrified gasps as she trotted behind him.
Keep her safe.
The forest went on forever, tree after tree after tree, that light meaning the end of those meaningless plants never emerging into Link's vision. That Guardian…that Guardian they had ran away from, is it gone yet? Link didn't dare look back, didn't dare find out. He just carried on running, his feet screaming in denial, his hands shouting for a rest, but he just carried on, the princess's hand soft in his.
He thought about that dream he used to have, night after night, back when he was first assigned as Zelda's appointed knight. Running through a forest, feeling her firm hands in his, and then suddenly, it was gone—he would look back, desperately, urgently, but no matter how hard he tried, she was nowhere to be seen. Brought to his knees by this fact, he would thrust his sword to the ground and scream to the sky in frustration-
A shiver ran down his spine. Link wished more than anything for that to not happen right now.
But then- but then it all did, against his own will, perhaps against hers, too. A fear stronger than anything grasped tightly onto Link's heart as he felt Zelda's hand slip away from his, a frightened gasp in her lips that barely escaped. No, no….They all said that dreams weren't a way of predicting the future, right?! There's no way she'd just disappear if he looks back, she'd be there-
Whirling around on his feet faster than he anticipated, Link looked back behind him wildly, following those exact same motions as he did in his dreams that repeated so many times it made his head ache simply to think about it. No, he refused to believe it, it had all been a dream, she's definitely there- The fear grasping his chest was painful, a terrifying, throbbing panic that filled every bit of his body.
And, thank the Golden Goddesses, there she was, bruised and scared and tired but safe nonetheless, kneeling on her knees, her fragile, tiny figure tearing his heart in two. Relief almost overwhelmed Link's senses as he quickly ran back to her side, feeling the failing Master Sword in his gloved hand still. What was she…what was she doing? They had to go, who knows when that Guardian will-
"How…" A single word, like a petal falling into the waters, flew out ever so gently out of those lips of hers, and all of those thoughts in Link's head about Guardians and danger seemed to have disappeared. Before he knew it, he was sheathing his sword back to its place on his back, kneeling down besides her on one knee as she brought her hands together in a fist tightly, its usual pristine texture dirtied with all the grime the Calamity had bestowed upon them. His heart ached at the sight - her in pain, both inside and outside, her back arched as if all that sadness was weighing her down, down, down. Link resisted an overwhelming urge to reach for her face, to brush his thumb against her cheeks, to whisper to her that, despite how everything seemed, it will all be okay.
But even he knew that was a lie.
"How did it come to this?" She murmured, her voice wavering as if it was the rainwater splattering onto their hair. Goddesses, did Link's heart ache for her - he looked down at Zelda, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face that was hidden behind her hair, but he had little success.
"The Divine Beasts…The Guardians…They've all turned against us…" Zelda's voice was strained, holding back tears that urged to be shed. "It was…" Her fists tightened against the ground with frustration, before she spat the name out like poison. "Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us!"
Calamity Ganon. The one Link was destined to fight for so many years of his life, the one that Zelda was destined to seal for so many years of her life. And— just so easily, they let it get away. And now it's way too late for fighting and sealing for no hope remained for them. A sense of dread struck Link's chest like a lightening but he pushed it aside. After all, the one who has it worse would of course of his princess.
Zelda slowly looked up, those emerald eyes of hers glittering with unshed tears. "And everyone—Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk…There's all trapped inside those things…"
Her eyes meet his, just momentarily, and just in that tiny moment, Link felt, vividly, obviously, as his heart ripped in two. Her large eyes shined of nothing of the Courage before, instead replaced by a failing despair, her eyebrows knitted together as she stared on ahead, her words slowly vanishing in her pooling pit of disheartenment.
Link watched in concern as she raised her head, before cupping it inside her two hands to shout, "It's all my fault!" Her eyes were covered now, but Link knew too well that tears were now flowing freely down her face, like crystals in a dark, dark chamber. "Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this cursed power!" A heartbreaking pause, before she continued on.
"Everything—everything I've done up until now…It was all for nothing…"
Link opened his mouth to protest, to say something, anything, but not a single word fell out. His throat was dry just as his lips, and he found no words, no words that were enough, to comfort her.
Maybe all he should do was to listen. Maybe that would be enough. After all, it's what he does best.
Returning her hands back to the ground almost violently, Zelda looked back at him, tears rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall in the Lanayru region. "So I really am just a failure! All my friends…the entire kingdom…my father most of all…" And yet again her eyes found his, already unable to hold the tears back. "I tried and I failed them all…
"I've left them…all to die." Zelda finished, her voice now no higher than a whisper. Oh, goddesses - Link's own heart pounded painfully against his ribs, ripping itself apart at the sight of her like this, so lost and so hopeless. Where was that smile on her face? Where was that laughter? Please…please let it all be back once more.
The next thing he knew, she was in his arms, her chest shaking violently with sobs. If under different circumstances (Goddesses, how he wished it was under a different circumstance), he would have freaked out and pushed her away in apology, saying that it was the King's orders, blah, blah, blah. But right now things were different — it was as if Zelda had been in his arms all this time, and she felt oh-so familiar as he wrapped his arms around her. Her body was cold against his, and Link found himself pulling her closer to him, providing her warmth that she wasn't able to provide herself, before looking up at the heavens above, only to whisper gently in her ear.
"It's not your fault…"
A/N: lmAO BYE I'M OFF TO- *breaks several tables and lamps* WRITE ZELDA'S AWAKENING NOW
ALSO WHO'S EXCITED FOR ZELDA'S ANNIVERSARY NEXT MONTH rAISE YoUR HANd
