A/N: Okay soooooooo I started this fic when I was like 14 and now im 21 and honestly I'm not sure when it started but it has kind of become a Christmas time tradition for me to write a chapter of this around this time a year. It is my favorite holiday tradtion and I look back on this fic with so much fondness. I did and still do have such a blast writing it. Thank you to anyone who reads/has read after all these years. Love you all. 3
When I woke up next it was dark. I rolled over in my bed, intending to throw my arm over Link, who I vaguely remember falling asleep next to in my exhausted state. My arm met with his chest and I heard him go 'mmph' softly in his own, half awake, half asleep reverie. Despite how exhausted I was, I couldn't help but smile. I turned onto my side and snuggled my way into his neck, breathing in his comforting scent.
"Hey," I murmured. "You're pretty cute, you know that?" I was rewarded with a sleepy shuffle. He turned to kiss the top of my head.
"Back at ya." We sat there in blissful, drowsy silence until there was a knock at my bedroom door. I sat bolt upright: what it if was Sheik? He was so protective of me, if he saw me in bed all cozy with a guy, especially with these crazy circumstances? He'd freak. I heard a voice through the door.
"Relax Zelda its just me." I heaved a sigh of relief. It was just Midna. She wouldn't rat us out to Sheik. At least, not if she knew what was good for her. Apparently I had some freaky God powers now so I could go all Super Saiyan on her. She came through the door, cute as ever, and even cuter than normal because she was carrying eggs and bacon. I gave her a loving look.
"You are a gift from the goddesses." Midna sat down on the edge of the bed and handed the plates in her hands to Link and I, respectively. It felt like days since I had eaten anything, and as soon as the first bite was in my mouth I was ravenous, inhaling the food as quickly as I possibly could.
"Slow down there." Midna chided. "You're gonna choke or something."
"Sorry." I muttered sheepishly around mouthfuls of food. "I didn't realize how freaking hungry I was. I feel like I haven't eaten in like, years."
"Yeah I guess going sage-mode will do that to ya." Link teased, digging into his own food. I hummed in agreement.
"So what the hell happened with that?" Midna asked. "All we know is that you started glowing and floating and then you slept for like two days and now we are here."
"Haha…..So basically Link and Ganon and I are ancient reincarnated prophets engaged in a battle that has lasted generations long for some weird magic triangles in our hands."
"…..Okay…" Midna drawled. "And that's why you can levitate?"
"Basically."
"I can make some green sparks!" Link cut in, not to be outdone.
"Hm. Well I'm not going to say I understand it, but I can't deny what happened right in front of me. If that is what you say is going on, then I believe you."
"Trust me, I don't really understand either." I scoffed, leaning back onto the pillows. "One second I'm Zelda Harkinian: high school theatre nerd, and the next second I'm Zelda Harkinian: reincarnation of a literal goddess. It's kind of fucked up."
"So what happens now?" Midna asked. I shrugged.
"I hadn't really thought about it. I figured I'd just learn as I went? I mean that glowy shit came to me easy enough."
"Well when I learned about myself the other Links started showing up in my dreams and teaching me about my powers and how to use a sword and stuff. I mean it's pretty tiring but honestly kind of cool."
"Nobody has been coming into my dreams, though." I fretted. What if I didn't get the training that Link did? What if I was just supposed to figure out all this ancient power on my own? I'm not smart enough to figure out magic on my own. Link seemed to understand exactly what I was thinking, and reached out to grab my hand, running thumb over my knuckles to soothe me.
"You have been pretty tired the past few days." Link reasoned. "You've been out cold for almost two days straight. It'd make sense if you didn't get any night time visits while you're sleeping off a goddess hangover."
"Yeah." I took a deep breath to try and quell the rapid beating of my heart. "Yeah maybe you're right." Midna leaned over us to collect our plates.
"I'm sure that it will work itself out, Zelda. These forces are obviously older than you are. I'm sure they know what they're doing." Midna smiled at me before standing up and sweeping out of the room just as quickly as she came. Perfect timing, as now that I had eaten and talked, I could feel my low pool of energy being drained. My eyes started to droop, and I shifted to burrow into the pillows.
"Sleepy again already?" Link chuckled.
"Mhm. I guess being an ultra-powerful magic woman has its drawbacks." I mumbled, sleep already clouding my thoughts. "Just one more sleep and I promise I'll be up and attem. Exciting Zelda again." Link shuffled in the sheets until he was holding me from behind, and placed a brief kiss to the top of my head.
"You take as many naps as you need, love." He murmured into my ear. "You deserve it." His rhythmic heartbeat and breathing lulled me to sleep in what felt like in instant.
I woke up in the same grand, sunlit temple that I was told about my past. Except this time, instead of a dozen or more other Zeldas, there were only two. The taller one with the brown hair that told me of her lost love with her Link, and one that was shorter, with blonde hair. As far as I could remember, she hadn't spoken to me before.
"Hello, Zelda!" The taller Zelda gave me a surprisingly warm smile. I guess it wasn't all business anymore. I had a connection to people. In some way or another, they were a part of me. It only makes sense that they would act as such.
"Hi…..Zeldas." I wasn't sure how to address them. "I was starting to get worried you guys weren't going to visit me."
"We wouldn't leave you in the lurch like that!" The dark-haired Zelda giggled. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It was like bells tinkling. Something told me she hadn't had many chances to laugh in either her life or strange spiritual afterlife. "We just wanted to wait until you had rested a bit. It has been a long time since one of us has been able to access power like that so quickly. We just wanted to be sure you had the space to recover completely." She spoke like a royal. Never a word out of place.
"I still feel like my legs weigh a thousand pounds each, but it gets better every time I sleep." I admitted.
"What you did was rather remarkable. The power you accessed and the control you exerted have not been seen since….well since the goddess herself. It is very likely you will not be able to access that much power again until you have had a considerable amount of training. Which is why we are here. This Zelda-" She motioned to the blonde girl next to her. "Aided the Hero of Time in his quest to defeat the Ganondorf of his era. She is a master of movement and stealth, as well as discipline." I looked the blonde up and down.
"Movement and stealth? In that dress?" Her dress was elaborate. Pauldrons and probably some kind of bell skirt or petticoat underneath. Her only response was to bring her hand up in some sort of sign. A puff of smoke appeared and in an instant, she had changed from a princess dressed for the role, to some sort of rogue. She looked rather masculine, with a tight blue suit with an eye insignia on the chest. "Holy shit! How did you do that?! You like like a fucking ninja!"
"This is how I aided the Hero of Time." Her voice was deep. Much deeper than I would have expected. Commanding. "For years I trained under my mentor to learn the ways of the Sheika and used my mastery of stealth to gather information for my Link. I am here to help train your body."
"Okay." That sounded really tiring. Wasn't I supposed to be resting? I turned to the dark haired Zelda. "So why are you here?"
"I am here to train your mind."
"Train it to do what? I get the training my body part. That's what Link said he has been doing. But what does any of that have to do with my mind."
"Do you remember when you were first accessing your powers and I warned you that you were going to lose control?" I nodded. "I asked you to breathe and you were able to channel your power, yes?" Again, I nodded. "My job is to teach you how to do that before you threaten to lose control. Sheik will teach you movement, and I will teach you magic."
"Wicked." I cracked a grin. Yeah this whole thing was scary as all hell, but who wouldn't want to learn how to kick ass?
"We will start small." Dark haired Zelda sat down on the ground with stunning posture, legs crossed. With Sheik following suit. I did the same, trying desperately to emulate the smooth, straight lines of both of their spines. "Close your eyes." She instructed. I obeyed. "When you took that breath that quelled your power, what did you see?"
"A redwood forest." I answered. "It was all around me. I could see it. I could smell it."
"That redwood forest is your inner peace." Zelda explained. "All of your magic should be channeled through there before you manifest it in the world or in your body."
"I don't get it."
"It is a bit hard to grasp." Zelda admitted. "Try taking slow long deep breaths through the nose. Focus on the pit of your belly. Your absolute center. See if you can feel your power."
"Okayyyyy." I still didn't quite understand, but what choice did I have other than to trust her. I started taking deep, easy breaths. The pit of my stomach? My absolute core? What did that even mean? I was skeptical that anything would even happen at all until my body started to feel warm. Warmth that was coming from the inside, like my body was humming underneath my skin. I brought my thoughts back to the pit of my stomach and realized that there was some feeling there that I had never noticed before. Had that always been there? "I feel it!" I exclaimed, squeezing my eyes shut in case opening them made that feeling go away. "It feels…blue? Like blue fire."
"That, my dear, is the source of your power. It is the same as the source of ours." I could hear the smile and the pride in Zelda's voice. "That fact that you can feel it so immediately is promising. You may very well end up being the most powerful Zelda since the Goddess herself."