Chapter 28: Inner Light

Link held her hands and rested his forehead against hers. It was the same as Zelda had done for Link when he was injured.

"Close your eyes and imagine the place where your visions come from. The light that passes before your eyes each time you see one, find it. Walk into it."

With so much experience, Link was able to enter immediately. He waited alone in the light. He took a few steps and turned back around. Zelda stood before him.

Link smiled and gestured around at the warm light that surrounded them. "It's nerve-wracking at first. It's nothing natural to us, but this is the start of the Sacred Realm."

Zelda spun around, her eyes wide with wonder. "It's incredible."

Running his hand along the barrier, he motioned for Zelda to follow him. "This is the Chamber of Sages. It's where I was for those years. Inside is even more amazing."

She ran to catch up with him, walking further into the white abyss. He held out his hand and she took it.

"Turn around, Princess."

Following his instructions, she spun around, landing encircled in his arms as they both stared up, seeing memories from their life. Link couldn't even remember being so young, and Zelda? She remembered it like it had only just happened. She turned to look at Link and gasped.

He was old. His face was lined with wrinkles, but his eyes were lit up with life as he stared at her. "Do you remember that?" he whispered. She looked back up at the vision in the sky and saw herself and Link, standing in the Sacred Realm, staring up.

She turned to him again, but could no longer feel him holding her. He was gone; only the Master Sword remained in his place until a young boy and girl ran up to her, picking up the sword and running away.

"I always want to feel the ground beneath my feet, and see the clouds above my head."

Zelda spun again and saw herself. She was standing beside Link and took his hand. "What about you? What… what will you do?"

Link smiled and held Zelda, disappearing just as he brought his lips to hers.

"Help me. Please. Help me. I'm prisoner in the dungeon of the castle. My name is Zelda."

She could see Link again, sitting up from a dream, hearing her voice. He didn't react when she screamed, dragged away in chains as she was strapped to an altar. Two witches floated above her, one of ice, the other of fire, and they cast down their magic, sending her to sleep as the life began to drain out of her.

Impa ran in front of her, dragging her by the hand, though they were both much older. "Come, Princess! Your brother will not wait long before he takes the throne. You must escape!"

"I won't."

A young Zelda grabbed Link's body as he fell. He stood up, clutching her for support. "Link!" she yelled, keeping him awake.

A booming voice spoke, and they looked up as the King stepped forward. "I want you to live for the future. There might be nothing left for you, but despite that, you must look forward and walk a path of hope, trusting that it will sustain you when darkness comes."

Link, her Link, stepped up beside her once again. She grabbed his hand, afraid he'd disappear. "What is this?" she asked.

He looked around as the visions continued. "This is us. Our stories, our legends."

She kept spinning, seeing her with Link, her father, friends. "What's real?"

Link led her by the hand and bent down, bringing her with him. "All of it. At some point, it will all have been real."

A dark shadow cast over them, and Ganondorf stood, staring down. Zelda gasped, and Link squeezed her hand. A different Link fell from above, impaling him with his sword through the head. The sword disappeared, and Link once again stabbed Ganondorf in the chest, causing him to morph into a great beast. Link shot him with an arrow. Zelda appeared, shooting him, causing him to fall. But each time, he was vanquished.

Her Link helped her stand and led her further into the white void. Other Links began to move beside him, and each held out their hand, marked by the Triforce.

Zelda stopped him and the others disappeared. "What is this?"

He put his hand into his pocket, keeping his other firmly in hers. "I used to do this when I was a kid. They'd help me sort through some of the visions, but they were more in control of what I saw. Eventually, I got overwhelmed and never did this again. I think you need to be overwhelmed by it all, though."

"What are you doing?" Link asked with a laugh. But she could see Link hadn't spoken.

Behind her, a new Zelda in a white dress appeared, twirling around in a field of flowers.

"I love this world!" she said simply.

"Hylia, you don't need to stay in your mortal form."

"I'm not Hylia anymore. When I split my soul, I became a new person. You hold a part of me, Link, and we will always find each other. But we will always find him as well. You may have defeated the Demon King, but his soul will return. I cannot stop that."

"I can," he said confidently, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

She smiled. "Yes, my brave knight, you can." She held his hand, staring at the triangular mark on the back. He turned hers over and saw the same. "I am not Hylia anymore," she said again.

Link bowed his head in acknowledgement. "What am I to call you? Goddess?"

Laughing, she freed her hand and spun around again. "No! You should call me… Zelda!"

The Link that Zelda truly knew brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, bowing his head. She inched toward him, but felt a great heat behind her and saw the look of sheer amazement on Link's face.

Turning around, the three Goddesses stood encased in their corresponding light: Farore in green, Din in red, and Nayru in blue. Each one stared at her intently with unblinking eyes. She should have felt uncomfortable. Their gazes were piercing and scrutinizing, but also curious and excited.

And like that, they shot away.

Zelda opened her eyes and saw Link pulling his forehead away from hers. The rain on the window was still loud and aggressive, but something about it was peaceful, calming.

"You should have the Triforce of Wisdom, Link," she said, staring at the rain. "That was… beyond."

He grinned. "Sometimes, I know how to be serious."

"All of them were us?"

"Yes."

"And one day, they'll sit together and see visions of you and I."

"Probably."

Zelda turned back to Link. "And they'll be pretty embarrassed seeing us finish our conversation from the fort?"

Link smiled, a laugh on his lips. "Almost definitely."

"But we're going to anyway, even though we're probably being watched hundreds of years in the future?"

"You tell me."

He leaned in and brushed his nose over her cheek, his lips just grazing her jawline.

"Or," he continued, pulling away, "Are you going to give up and leave us all to our fate?"

She ran a hand through his hair before wrapping her arms around his neck. "The Goddesses cursed me as a child, but I accepted it, knowing the price. Come life or death, I'll be there at the end."

Being this close to her was dizzying, her breath against his skin, her fingers on his skin. But he was nothing if not true to his word. "You're still my future queen, now even more so. So…"

She wanted to laugh, but there was something serious about the way he said it that stopped her. Instead, she nodded, whispering a soft yes in his ear.

This time, Link didn't want to lose the opportunity. No ghosts at the door. He brought his lips down to hers in a hurry, but slowed the kiss, letting her savor it for better or worse.

When he pulled away, she followed him with her lips, trying to capture his. He turned his head and kissed her jaw. "No fanfare, but you can say you've done it."

She was red and breathless from just that short kiss. "I thought I heard fanfare. Maybe… maybe I just need more practice. You mind?"

He playfully rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah. It's a real chore, you know? Don't make a habit of it."


As Link laid in the bed of the room Impa had set up at the castle for him, he tried to figure out just how much time passed from their first kiss, to when Impa began pounding on the door, demanding that it stayed unlocked in case of an emergency. They broke apart, both beat red and a tangle of hair and limbs.

They'd only kissed, but it hadn't been long before Link had her on her back, leaving a trail of kisses along her neck, down her jaw, and finally to her mouth. They stopped to talk for a while, but Zelda eagerly rolled into his arms.

It had to be two hours that they were in there. Could the Sacred Realm have made it longer?

He closed his eyes, dreamlessly falling asleep, though his mind was racing with other thoughts.

The sudden banging on the door had him drawing a sharp knife from under his pillow.

"Link! Open the door!" Zelda called, her voice frantic.

Link sprung to his feet and let her in.

Zelda was out of breath, tears in her eyes. Her feet wouldn't stop, and she paced his entire room all before he had time to ask what was wrong.

She began to unwrap her hand, frantically pulling at a cloth she'd wrapped around it. When it was off, Link could see what she was hiding.

"What do I do?" she asked, panicked.

Link took her hand in his, the two Triforce pieces shining brightly on the backs of both their hands.

"We can't let Ganondorf find it! He'll find it, take us, use it, and kill us."

Link stroked her hair and shook his head. "Tonight there isn't anything to do. You could pray, I suppose, but that's about all."

Zelda ran her hand through her long hair before staring at the symbol again.

Link glanced out the window. "It's still late. You should get some rest. Do you want me to stay by your door?"

Shaking her head, Zelda gestured to his bed. "Would you mind if I stayed here… with you?"

He smiled and looked down at the floor. "Go ahead, get comfortable."

Zelda slid under the blanket, and Link followed her. She was on the other end of the bed, and he grabbed her waist, pulling her closer. "Might as well," he said.

She turned red. "I didn't want to assume anything."

"Princess, feel free to assume whatever you want."

Zelda turned in his arms so that she was facing him. "You know, you called me Zelda."

His eyebrows scrunched together. "When?"

"When Ganondorf was draining my power, you called me Zelda. You'd better get used to it. Soon, I won't be a princess; I'll be a queen."

Link made a face. "It doesn't have the same ring to it. I'll stick with Princess."

She laughed and rested her head down, staring at the Triforce on her hand. "Of course you will."


A/N: You probably noticed that some of those quotes during the visions are mostly directly from the games. Figured I'd shove a subtle DISCLAIMER THEY'RE NOT MINE down here, just because I see other people do that too even though this is literally a site all about using existing characters, quotes, and/or stories. But I said it, so I'm covered.