"Let the Past Die. Kill it if you have to. It's the only way to become what you were meant to be"
-Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, 'The Last Jedi'
A fire pit was the only light source in front of Impa's home. Zelda stood before it, watching the flames dance along the wood with a neutral expression. In her hands was a perfectly folded white dress with the golden symbol of the legendary Triforce. To an outsider, it seemed like a simple dress. Nothing all that special.
Back over one hundred years prior, it had a lot of meanings.
It was a sacred grab to her father and everyone who worked closely with him. Zelda remembered how her father was stern about how the dress should be treated with high respect. The servants that tended to it would hold it like it was fragile pottery. They were always sure to not leave a single blemish. Everyone treated the dress with high respect. To them, it was a symbol of Hylia herself.
To Zelda, however, the dress served a different symbol.
It was the same dress she wore the ten years she had spent pointlessly praying at the sacred springs, to the point of hyperthermia on a few occasions, to awaken her power only to end up with nothing. The lingering feeling of disappointment in her father and herself linger afterward. That's only the least of it.
It was the same dress she wore the day of The Great Calamity. The dress she wore when she lost everything: Her father. The Champions. The entire Kingdom. She lost them all. Link would've been added to that list had she not awakened her powers and used them to stop that Guardian. Zelda thought that was perhaps the only good thing to associate the dress with. That was overshadowed by the memory of Link almost succumbing to his wounds immediately after.
It was also the dress she wore for her century-long battle with Calamity Ganon. It was the only dress she wore every day she spent holding the beast into the confines of Hyrule Castle. Knowing that if she failed, the world would face its end.
Zelda glanced at the dress in her hands. All she gave was a tiny scowl as all the horrible memories of The Calamity rushed through her. It had only been mere days since she and Link finally put the beast down, but everything was still fresh to her.
To outsiders, it may seem like a simple dress. To Zelda…it served as chains. The chains that kept her imprisoned long before Calamity Ganon returned. The chain that was placed onto Zelda the day her mother died.
The fire remains strong before her. Zelda returns her eyes to the dancing flames. The scowling face went back to her neutral expression. Minutes pass with her standing in silence.
Then without hesitation, Zelda tossed the dress into the fire.
Zelda watched the fabric of the dress burn away into the cinders. No longer can that dress hold her down. Zelda will not wear failure as she wore the now burnt-away white dress. She would not be weighed down by past failures. She will not be the heir to a throne of nothing but failures like her father and the cursed gossip mongers had claimed.
Despite the tears escaping her eyes, Zelda maintained her stoic expression, much like when she lost her mother. A gentle touch landed on her shoulder.
Link gazes at her with his gentle expression. He did not say anything verbally. His eyes, on the other hand, do say something.
"You're okay now. You're free."
It was all Zelda needed to hug him, breaking into sobs. Link did not protest in any way. All he did was hold her close as she continued to cry. Not only the sadness of her hardships but…also a relief.
For the first time since the day her mother died, Zelda was finally free.
This is a oneshot I've always wanted to write. With Tears of the Kingdom only days away I think now would be a good time to write this out.
I wouldn't put it past Zelda to get rid of the white dress she wore when she prayed the springs. Every bad thing that happened was always associated with that dress. I would've burnt hat darn thing to.