&
OTP100 Prompt # 19 Toast
Title: Breadcrumbs
Word Count: 591
Warnings: None
Characters: Link and Zelda
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda, or any of its inclusive characters or ideas, blah, blah, blah, don't raise litigations on me for this.
&
"I'm sorry, it's just toast this morning, honey." He cringed to be using that word with her, when in reality they weren't anything more than old friends, but you never knew who was listening outside the door these days, and they couldn't afford to be caught outside of the lie they were living.
"That's okay, darling, I understand about the food rationing. It's taking a toll on everyone." She might not be their crown princess anymore, but she could still empathize with her people, especially now that she was forced to under what they were privy to as the subjects of the despot that had deposed her.
The pair of blondes knelt in conjuncture at their small, round, stone hearth and offered silent prayers to the goddesses they were no longer allowed to worship openly with proper altars or icons before turning around and crossing the tiny main room to their dining table. A much-dented tin plate from Link's traveling days sat in the middle of the small wooden table, just one piece of toast in its center. They had been given a whole loaf earlier this week, when rations were handed out, but they had also been told that the loaf must last them the next five weeks, besides this one. Rations would not be handed out monthly any more.
Zelda sat first, watching as her supposed husband began carefully slicing the bread in half with a knife from his belt. He placed the two halves back on the plate, then left to get them water from the cleanser he had constructed. The water in this part of Hyrule Castle Town was clogged with sewage these days because the Zoras refused to keep anything except their own river clean in an act of defiance towards the new king. The decision tore at Zelda's heart, because while she wanted to applaud the Zoras for their bravery and undermining of the king, she also knew what torment the dirty water was bringing to the rest of her kingdom's citizens.
Eating slowly in silence, trying to maximize one of the two meals they would have today, both man and woman contemplated the situation they found themselves in. Neither would admit it, but the coup d'etat had been somewhat of a blessing disguised for them as much as it was a body blow. True, Hyrule's people suffered under their selfish and tyrannical new leader, and that the country itself was well on its way to sinking down the drain permanently and none of those things could be idly abided by either of the pair. But, it was also true that the time Zelda was spending in safety and hiding under the noses of her enemies had given the pair an opportunity to spend time together again, which neither could find a complaint about.
Soon, however, this time would draw to a close just as others had before it, and the two of them would be forced to separate once more. Their separate destinies might both have the goal of protecting and caring for Hyrule, but that did not mean the pair of old Hylian friends would be inseparable. More often than not, it seemed, their duties to their country came before any obligation to each other, and both knew that they were also destined to be driven apart, despite wanting to be in contact forever as they friends they were. Sharing a destiny, a duty, even sharing their breakfast toast in this moment, meant nothing for what would become of them in the end.
&