Fern woke slowly, not because she wanted to leave the warmth of the bed, but because the sunlight in her face was annoyingly insistent. She rolled over in the bed, her arm reaching out for Link searchingly. When her fingers found nothing but pillows and blankets at their tips she sat up with a panicky start. She looked around the room searchingly, the morning bleariness leaving her mind instantly remembering her recent loss in a moment of panic before rational thought took over. Link wasn't dead. He'd been here all night with her. There was no way that he'd even been injured. He'd simply gone out for the morning and not woken her, yes, that was it. Her heartbeat calmed albeit slowly as her momentary panic subsided. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling quietly, her body and mind recalling the night before with a wistful smile. A part of her regretted it, the pain from her loss was too soon and too fresh in her mind and heart. Yet she could not deny that she'd never take back what she and Link had shared...could still share.
That last thought, that the night's festivities could promise something more, something to heal rather than harm, stirred her to motion. She uncurled herself from her warm sanctuary within the blankets and pillows and stood, clutching one of the former to her body to preserve some silly notion of dignity that her less inebriated mind clung to. The only thing she had to wear was her dress from the night before, it was too fancy for casual wear, ridiculously so...but then again, she wasn't going to just go out naked in broad daylight. She pondered Link's living space for a moment more before her eyes lighted upon a chest in the corner over which were draped what she assumed was dirty laundry. Stepping over to it, she tossed the dirty things onto the floor and pushed up the lid, inspecting the contents. Sure enough, there were clean shifts and pants within the chest. She grabbed one of each, discarding the blanket on the floor as she dressed herself.
Having accomplished this task, she set off for the door and hopefully to find Link as well. The ladder leading down to the ground was easy enough to scale and when she reached the foot of Link's home she spied Epona grazing at her post. The roan mare looked up from her breakfast and surveyed Fern curiously as she approached. She reached out and stroked the mare's nose gently, being careful not to startle of alarm her. She knew the stories of just how tempermental the horse could be without Link's guidance.
"Do you know where Link's gone?" she asked hopefully, feeling just a bit silly for asking a horse such a question.
Despite that feeling though, it seemed validated as Epona whinnied excitedly, tossing her head up and down enthusiastically.
Fern smiled. "Well I guess I can rely on you to take me to him then."
She untied Epona from her post, letting the horse free of its bridle. Epona stood there a moment, regarding Fern for a long while before turning her head and sauntering off into the woods at an easy pace. Fern followed after the roan mare who from time to time swung her head to the side as if to ensure that Fern was still following her. Fern of course was doing just that, even if she hadn't been fully committed to pursuing whatever it was that she had started with Link the night before, the festival had been last night. Virtually the entirety of the village and all its guests would be either helping to clean up after the mess that would be left or near comatose from the amount of food and spirits imbibed the night before. There was nothing for Fern to do at the moment save pursue the night's promises and see if they carried through to the day's light.
Epona led her down the forest path, the dirt and grass shod trail glittering gold and green in the morning light filtering through the trees overhead. It all seemed so surreal, like a dreamy continuation of her journey from the village to Link's home the night before. Ahead of her Epona's hindquarters rocked from side to side steadily. The motion reminded Fern of another, similar motion from the night before. Her body heated up and her breathing quickened as her mind dwelt upon the feel of Link's body against hers. His lips, fingers, and breath had caressed her and made her feel whole again. She didn't want to lose that feeling again, ever. Ahead of her, Epona took a turn in the path, vanishing for a moment around the bend. Fern quickened her pace so as not to lose sight of the mare's path. She turned the bend and stopped in surprise. She'd never been here before which was somewhat surprising she had to admit, however from the look of things it was a common enough place for Epona and Link since the former had led her directly to the latter without a single misstep or hesitation.
Link stood ankle deep in the waters of a freshwater spring holding a fishing rod. On the shore rested three fish which he'd already caught. A short distance from that, a small raptor sat perched atop another fish, pecking at the remains eagerly. It looked up at her as she entered the grotto and spread its wings as if to say this was its food. Fern was forced to smile at the absurdity of the gesture. Her gaze returned to Epona who had approached Link now and was pressing her nose against his back. He set down his rod in the shallow water, planting its butt firmly in the spring's bed before turning to stroke Epona's head affectionately.
"Who let you out?" he whispered gently.
"That would be me." Fern supplied with a playful smile. "You left me and I had no one else to ask for directions."
Link looked over at her with a gentle smile. "I didn't want to wake you."
Fern strode into the shallow water and planted her finger in his chest. "I woke up alone. I don't like that."
Link's smile flickered and faded and his arms were around Fern's body before she could react. She froze for a moment before burying her face in his chest.
"Sorry." she murmured. "I didn't mean to make it sound that bad."
"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have left you there alone, not after last night."
Fern nuzzled against him, feeling his heartbeat strongly beneath his chest where her head rested. She breathed in, taking his rich scent into herself. It felt so good to be held in his arms, for him to care. Looking up at him, she stood up and pressed her lips against his gently for a fleeting moment.
"Am I that fragile?"
He shook his head, his eyes alight with affection, his voice warm and rich. "No, you're not."
The kiss that followed was deeper as Link's arms wrapped around her and lifted Fern up out of the water. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto him tightly, entwining her fingers in his scraggly hair and holding tightly. She didn't want to let him go and he seemed to share the sentiment as they continued to kiss. When the embrace finally slackened, she was out of breath.
"Link," she breathed. "what is this?"
He leaned his head against hers. "It's whatever we make of it."
She smiled, hiding it from him by looking down as she closed her eyes.
"I want to make it more."
She felt Link's body shifting and wondered if he was reacting to her comment or merely getting a better hold of her.
"What do you want to make it?" he asked her after a moment.
She leaned against him, pressing her body against his as she shut her eyes against silent tears. "I want to be loved again...I want to know that I matter."
Link's arms tightened around her. "You do."
Fern's hands gripped great clumps of Link's hair as she pulled herself against him.
"Link...I'm scared. I don't want to hurt again."
He nodded, stroking her back gently. "I can't make promises I might not be able to keep Fern. I'm going to be here though and if you'll have me I'm yours."
"Good, because if last night was just some meaningless romp for you I'd gouge your eyes out." she said in an attempt at humor.
Link's body shook with his rich laughter. "Oh will you? I'd best be careful then how I treat you if I want to keep my sight."
Fern glared up at him. "Dammit don't laugh at me when I'm making fun of myself."
She jerked in his arms and given their awkward position she realized all too late that it probably wasn't the most fortunate thing for her to do as they toppled into the shallow water. The upheaval of water doused them both and found Fern sitting on Link's stomach as he lay in the water looking up at her with an amused smile.
Fern's hands covered her mouth in alarm. "I'm sorry, you aren't hurt are you?"
He shook his head. "Just wet."
Fern's expression collapsed as she broke into a fit of laughter, leaning her head down against his chest, her hair falling in a rippling wave over her shoulders.
"Link, what are we doing?"
He lifted her chin up and looked at her with his shimmering blue eyes. In them she saw nothing but a deep affection and caring. She hoped that it was real and not just what she wanted to find in them but at that moment she didn't care. Those eyes made her heart leap again as it had not these past weeks.
"We're dancing." Link stated simply with a coy smile.
Fern's smile was tender as he tugged her down into another kiss. The pair of them lay there in the water as the warm morning sun shone down upon them and lit their blossoming affection in glowing rays of gold.