A/N: Hello all! (: I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I hope this will make up for it. It's three times the length of normal chapters, and as promised, here is the first mature chapter!
Again, thank you so much for comments and suggestions! I didn't mean for my last note to come off as displeased, I really do appreciate input.
Chapter 11 – Inferno
Breathing heavily, Pikachu slumped against the doorframe of corridor 2B. Samus had been near impossible to coax off of her chair to let him into the ship, never mind actually come out into the open – without her suit no less, seeing how the food court was in full swing and it was unlikely that anybody would be heading back to the dorms for another few hours. Clacking heels behind him assured that Samus was not far behind, and with the clock ticking ever closer to his deadline, he had to trust that Peach would hold up her end of the deal.
Samus, meanwhile, was silently observing him. His arrival hadn't been unexpected, but the fact that he returned alone was what had surprised her; he had seemed desperate, and as low as she was feeling it was no reason to let him suffer – both out of affection, and out of the fact that if he were in danger she was surely the one who could help.
The sound of high heels perked at his ears; luckily not loud enough to catch Samus' hearing.
"Pika~ Pi-Pi!" He chirped, gesturing wildly with his paws for her to enter the East hallway just ahead of them – barely lit enough to see more than a few feet in front of oneself – and quivering as though a great monster lurked within. Samus pursed her lips, quirking a suspicious brow, before passing by his trembling body.
"Alright."
Meanwhile, in corridor 3E, Peach was busy leading a half dressed Zelda through the vacated hallways. She was in her Pyjamas – still – except for the crown that Peach had haphazardly fixed onto her head before tugging her out the door because 'It looks pretty!', or something along those lines that the semi-functional Zelda had attempted to catch.
"Down there, go, go!" Peach urged, stopping eagerly at the opposite entrance to the East hallway and coaxing Zelda in front of her.
Zelda, now disgruntled at the sudden overzealous touching, put some distance between them as she prised Peach's hands off of her.
"What is all this?!" She hissed, face still red and tight-jawed from that morning.
Peach felt a cold sweat creep up her back. TO be brutally honest, she had no plan. But she knew Zelda, and she knew Samus, and she knew them like a mother knows her own children.
It was as she opened her mouth to speak, that Samus' voice rang through from the other end of the hallway, and as she met Zelda's eyes there was nothing but raw panic within them.
"I'm sorry. Please trust me." She said slowly, a faint but reassuring smile on her lips, and left Zelda rooted where she stood.
"There's nothing here, Pikachu." Samus' voice broke the silence again, and Zelda could hardly bring herself to turn around.
"It's empty-" Cutting herself off abruptly, Samus caught sight of a princess that looked akin to a deer in headlights. "-...Oh. Never mind!"
Zelda almost laughed. Whether it was from amusement, fear or anger she wasn't quite sure herself, and Samus' expression betrayed her impassive tone.
"Good evening." Zelda's voice was dry, clearly unused, and Samus nodded silently in response.
"...Hey." She quietly replied, and Zelda wasn't sure if she was glad or not that Samus' didn't avert her eyes once concern began to blaze within them – closing the distance between then in stiff, awkward steps, "You look stressed.."
Her expression faltered for a second, and she pursed her lips. "I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly."
Zelda sighed deeply.
"I apologise for putting you on the spot."
A heavy silence fell between them, and Samus closed the distance very slightly. Words couldn't describe the relief Zelda felt knowing that Samus wasn't avoiding her, and how unforced the atmosphere was despite its heaviness.
"I don't want to push you away." Samus said quietly, and Zelda felt her entire body tense as Samus went to move closer before quickly changing her mind, "But I'm guessing neither of us planned this."
"Quite." Zelda murmured, strong dissatisfaction resonating in her voice, and Samus cracked a soft, just-audible chuckle. Zelda smiled.
"What was Pikachu's excuse for dragging you out here?"
"He called me a social outcast. How was I supposed to respond to that?"
Samus' question took Zelda by surprise. She blinked up at the huntress intently, signalling for her to go on.
"That was it."
Zelda hummed a soft 'oh', observing Samus' face a little more closely. The dark shadows beneath heavy half-lidded eyelids compelled her to believe that Samus night had been as restless as hers, but restless nights were something a bounty hunter must surely know all too well.
"I would say he is completely false."
Samus narrowed her eyes, and Zelda knew she was in total doubt.
"Well, you are here with me, are you not? In fact, I believe I have gotten to enjoy your company every day for quite some time."
Samus eyes widened slightly, and Zelda smiled sadly at the unhidden blush on her cheeks. If only she could act upon it.
"You have also been very good at conversation, considering you did not wish to speak at all to begin with. I see you are much more of a listener than a talker, are you not?"
Another silent response and a deeper blush, but Samus nodded coyly.
"That does not make you a social outcast. It just means that you are more reserved than most, which is completely understandable considering your lifestyle. In fact, I have to admit, I do find it quite charming. I feel very at ease with you... and so very happy that you have let me into your world."
The more she spoke, the more Samus' expression reminded her of a puppy being taken home from a pound - and in truth that was exactly how the blonde was feeling. Even if were vague, Samus felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
It felt as though, by some indirect message, she had been told that she wasn't to blame for the way she had lived. The way she had been forced to grow up. The idea that she wasn't some inhumane monster, sculpted from the mind of a creature she could barely remember the voice of... But she also felt an inconceivable amount of fear in the back of her mind. Zelda had only truly been in her life for a couple of months, and yet she had this unwavering ability to make her feel things she hadn't even experienced in space.
This strange, warm gurgling sensation in her stomach every time Zelda smiled or laughed or told her she'd done a good job or gained her approval, or the heavy, cold chill that gripped at her chest whenever they parted ways – even if Samus herself had initiated it. Zelda hadn't broken down her walls; she'd hopped over them with ease!
"...Samus? Are you alright? ...Oh!"
Samus grabbed a hold of shoulder, stopping them in their tracks, and Zelda's world began to spin. One stride was enough to close the distance between them, backing Zelda up against the wall, and conflicted, gleaming eyes, searched her face for any sign of objection.
Zelda brought a shaking hand to her chest, taking comfort in the uncontrollable racing heartbeat within.
"Zelda..." Samus breathed, and within an instant the princess' world was aflame, "Did your parents ever tell you not to play with fire?"
A faint bashful smile was enough to deflect the question, and she dared to close the short remaining distance herself, "Is it not a romantic cliché to have one's heart set aflame?"
Samus' breath was on her lips now, and her head was swimming. She wanted so much to be angry; she couldn't bear the thought of being toyed with whilst feeling so fragile, but knowing Samus was just as conflicted as she was brought strange comfort.
"I'm a wildfire, Zel. You'll get burned up before you can pray to your goddesses."
Samus, with her forearm now rested against the wall above her, stood enticingly close; looming over her with eyes so lonely Zelda wished nothing more than to kiss away the pain. Samus smiled sadly, slender fingers traced the contours of Zelda's cheek so gently it was as though she feared she may break her.
"Don't let me hurt you." She pleases quietly, and Zelda swore she felt Samus' fingers tremble, "Don't chase me. I can't let you get hurt. Not now."
Zelda closed her eyes as Samus' lips betrayed her words, pressing a soft and lingering kiss. The moment she broke away Zelda pulled her into another before she could protest, and Samus melted beneath her fingertips. It was unhurried, even slower than the first, but deep enough that they could drown in chaste intoxication. Each time their lips broke apart, the two felt a sudden and undeniable deprivation and would meet in kiss after kiss; slow and deliberate as they played the rhythm of the other's heart as though it were the most treasured instrument in the entirety of love's grand orchestra.
"You and I," Samus whispered against Zelda's trembling lips, "We collide."
"Like two stars on a summer night." Zelda interrupted, and Samus smiled weakly against her until another question followed.
"Why must you run from me?"
"Don't ask me questions I can't answer." She answered desolately, voice strained with an anguish that Zelda hadn't heard from her before. Eyes fluttering open, she was met with the stare that belonged to an animal that had been caged its entire life. But this wasn't an animal. It was Samus, her Samus, and if she let the huntress slip through her fingers one more time she might never catch her again.
"Please... Please let me in..."
"I can't drop everything when you want a tea party." Samus answered suddenly, and Zelda was taken aback.
"I have responsibilities, Zelda. I have to go out and kill, and I can't ever know if I'm going to come back. I don't wake up and wonder what I'm going to have for breakfast; I wake up and wonder how I'm going to avoid getting my head ripped off."
Zelda winced, feeling sick to her stomach. She had always tried to block out the fact that Samus had thousands of deaths weighing on her shoulders, but in the process she had forgotten that Samus didn't have that option.
"I can't dance around making time to go for walks in the park because space pirates don't wait. Space pirates take planets and cull them, Zelda. Cull them. And if I don't kill them first, they're going to come and kill me. And then they're going to kill you. And then they're going to take Hyrule, and kill every last one of them. I can't-" She growled shakily with frustration, fingers burying in her hair as she turned away and closed her eyes tightly shut.
She fell deadly quiet, and her voice dropped into a low, warning whisper.
"I fucking killed them, Zelda. I don't get closure for my parents, for anybody I ever knew, for myself. Closure is a made up thing. I have to live with the shitty things I've done for the rest of my life, and I'm sick of people trying to change me for it. I'm broken, Zelda, I'm a trigger happy murder weapon with too much emotional baggage and I'm not dragging you down with me."
Zelda shook her head, but the lump in her throat grasped firmly to the words she wanted to say.
"That is not true..." She said defiantly, but the waver in her voice betrayed her words.
"Accept it. I'm not the hero you want. I'm the outlaw you're supposed to avoid."
Zelda flinched at the emptiness of Samus' tone, and she knew that the huntress was putting up walls as quickly as she could build them.
"Samus do not dare to do what I think you are doing! You are not going to drag me down, I have chosen to stick by you this far and I refuse to drop you now! Please, Samus, we have made such progress and I refuse to let you fall back into the world I know you came from!"
"Save yourself, Zelda. My life is a time bomb and I don't want you to be there when it explodes."
Gritting her teeth, fearful that Samus may pack and leave again, she threw her arms around the huntress' waist defiantly.
"Maybe I like the way it burns."
Hot lips suddenly slanted against hers, and Zelda moaned wantonly into Samus; mouth. A low, erotic rumble rose in Samus' chest, and Zelda felt a hot twinge hit her lower stomach. She wanted more. Slim fingers grazed her shoulders, and as a whimper slipped past her lips Zelda felt Samus' hands cup her cheeks. Though her hands were calloused and battle worn, Samus' touch was unbelievably gentle. She rubbed her thumbs gently over Zelda's pale skin as though she were so frail that the slightest hint of pressure might break her, drawing a fulfilled sigh from Zelda's lips.
"Oh, Samus..." She breathed with a voice low and overflowing with silken covet. Something deep in Samus' chest awoke; a primal urge, a need, a need to be as close to Zelda as physically possible – if not more.
Slim fingers crept up to caress the back of Zelda's neck until trembling hands fisted her hair and gave a gentle tug. Zelda's head tipped back without resistance, and she moaned weakly as Samus deepened the kiss. She parted her lips, accepting Samus' tongue into her mouth and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck. She felt Samus press closer; trapping her between the wall and the raging heat she could feel burning through latex curves. Drowsy thoughts recalled Samus mentioning how temperature-resistant the suit was, and the mere thought of how hot she must be burning made Zelda tremble.
They kissed fiercely with an unshackled passion, breaking away only for short-lived gasps between muffled groans.
"Goddesses... Samus..." Zelda moaned breathily, bringing both hands up to cup Samus' cheeks and gaze up into the Huntress' eyes. They radiated a tenderness she'd never seen from this woman before, and it knocked the breath from her lungs. Samus' fingers moved up to caress her cheek, push a few strands of hair behind her ear and give a small, unbelieving smile.
"Zel..."
Zelda felt her heart leap into her mouth. The world around them disappeared, and drowning with intoxication from this woman where she stood was where she wanted to be. Samus' lips approached hers once more, brushing against them with a touch so light that a feather would envy them, and brought her arms around the Hylian's waist to pull her into a close embrace.
Zelda's heart swelled, her mind racing and thoughts clouded her from finding the words to say. Zelda held her breath and sank into Samus' embrace like putty in her hands, throwing her arms around Samus' neck in kind and squeezed her tight. Samus brought one hand up to stroke auburn locks, pressing a hungry, lingering kiss to the soft flesh of Zelda's neck. Hot, open mouth kisses trailed down her neck, tongue snaking out to trace the contours of her throat, and the huntress smiled smugly against her skin as Zelda let off a particularly sharp gasp. She'd found a sweet spot, it would seem.
"Don't hold it in. I want to hear you."
Without skipping a beat she latched onto her; lips pulling at her tender neck, and Zelda didn't doubt that the huntress was leaving her mark knowing well forth that it would be hard to cover.
"Your voice is so beautiful, I... want to know if I'm doing this right."
Zelda opened her mouth to question how Samus could possibly doubt that what she was doing was any less than perfection, but as strong hands moved from her waist and slid down to caress the back of her thighs before snaking up to cup her ass, all that escaped was a weighty moan.
"Mm, Just like that."
Samus' husky voice whispered low in her ear, and Zelda felt herself melting at the sound of it. She shifted, slinging one leg around Samus' hips and dug her fingers into her back. Samus purred erotically against her neck, throwing her weight forwards and rolled her hips; drawing a startled and overpowered gasp from the Princess. Captivated in the rhythm of Samus' body, Zelda clutched at the fabric on the huntress' back to try and hold her own. She could feel the racing beat of Samus' heart as her chest pinned her against the wall, and the animalistic grinding burning from the very essence of Samus' core set her body alight. Though her caresses were soft, the wild passion behind the rock of her hips sent wave after wave of heat through her. Samus' suit left little to the imagination by eye, but Zelda was now realising against the searing pleasure that it left little to the imagination by touch either. She was almost taken aback by how slick the meagre layers of fabric between them had become, and embarrassment flared in her cheeks as Zelda realised just how wet she must be.
She shamelessly cried out for the huntress, muffled only as hungry lips crashed against hers once more. Samus had been quiet for the most part aside from deep, laboured breaths, so to feel the blonde moan out very softly as she involuntarily bucked her hips brought Zelda dangerously close to her tipping point.
Samus' body had her pinned, but as one hand left her body it quickly made itself known at her inner thigh. Zelda sighed loudly in delight and spread her legs apart very slightly, coaxing Samus to edge her fingers higher, and whimper loudly as she did. Strong fingers brushed against her, faint strokes tantalisingly slow against her underwear, and if it weren't for Samus holding her she were sure that her legs would have given out beneath her.
Samus felt like her head was underwater; she was drowning in Zelda; and each gasp, each whine, each shifted clutch on the back of her suit brought her closer to completely losing composure and smothering the young woman with every last ounce of passion in her body. She was infatuated, completely and undeniably infatuated by the woman before her with every fibre of her being, and to feel her own name strained against her own lips was a sensation that brought an almost unbearably hot tightness to her chest.
She dragged her fingers slowly, purposefully teasing out every moment, until finally slipping beneath the lining to trace against slick, burning skin. Zelda cried out against the skin of her neck, barely comprehensible pleading for more, and she complied without hesitation.
Teeth clamping down on her lower lip, Zelda could feel the white hot coil inside her tightening ever more as two fingers pushed inside of her and began to thrust at an agonisingly slow pace. Samus was toying with her, and she thrived in the knowledge that she truly had Samus' full attention. Samus was here with her, Samus wanted to be here with her, and if Zelda was any good at recognising the passion in her fleeting but definitely longing glances, Samus needed to be here with her just as much as she needed to be here with Samus.
"Sam... Oh, goddesses Sam, " She panted, nestling her face into the crook of Samus' neck in a sudden overwhelming wave of emotions. "I love you!"
Samus stopped moving.
"...Samus?" As the heat and hunger of Samus' body was ripped from her grasp, Zelda's world ground to a halt. The huntress stepped back, and Zelda was met with a look in her eyes that she couldn't have prepared for. Wild fear had seized the same eyes that had oozed warmth and compassion only moments beforehand, and Zelda was reminded without a doubt of a feral animal that had just received a tranquilizer dart. She looked stricken with panic, confusion, and Zelda was gripped with the sudden dread that Samus' clouded mind had cleared and she now regretted every moment passed between them. The sudden dread that 'what if sex is enough?' had driven this moment she had pinned so much emotion into. Their world became cripplingly cold.
Another step back and Samus was struggling to keep her footing.
"No, you... You can't, please, you mustn't.."
Zelda's insides clenched.
"No, no, no..." Samus shook her head, hands hiding themselves away between blonde strands. Another step, and another, and another – every step brought more distance between them and Zelda felt as though her heart had been torn from her chest.
"Samus, wait! Please, you need not fear for me, I.. Please you cannot push me away again, now not!" Zelda's voice had lost its calm, and she was undeniably stricken with panic too.
Their eyes met, and Samus' eyes no longer shone with compassion. They gleamed with tears, no matter how hard she tried to bite them back.
"I have to go." Her voice was void of anything, and no matter how hard Zelda searched her eyes she was met with nothing but hysteria and forced bitterness.
"No... Samus, Goddesses, please! You cannot leave me now!"
Samus broke into a sprint, making a sudden break down the hallway.
"Samus!?"
Though Zelda was no match for her speed on the battlefield, the huntress was shaken enough for her to match paces and keep up with her. Every bend, every stretch of hallway, every rounded corner brought her inches closed to the blonde so desperately trying to escape her grasp. She'd gotten so close, so agonisingly close to Samus letting her into her world that she couldn't give up. Not now. Not when she now knew without a doubt that inside the bounty hunter's cold and brutal outer shell there was a young woman with as much love in her heart that Zelda had in hers.
Past the bathrooms, past the food court, past the training rooms, the two women raced in a sick role reversal of predator and prey.
"Samus, please, for goddesses sake stop so we can talk about this!" Zelda pleaded between gasps and pants, starting to feel the pressure of stamina loom over her. She didn't have enough time to try and teleport in front of the huntress; they were moving at such a speed that she didn't dare risk missing her window of opportunity and giving Samus a clear getaway.
The dorm rooms came into view, and a new wave of fright hit the Hylian in the gut. Samus was going to get in before she would.
Samus' body was in conflict. Her mind screamed at her to run, to keep running and not even consider looking back, but every fibre of her being was crying out for Zelda's sweet and forgiving embrace.
She bit her lip to fight back tears, tears she didn't want to accept had found their way past the endless barriers and walls she'd put up, but found nothing but shame as the hard wood floor of the bedroom finally passed under her feet before Zelda managed to catch a hold of her.
She swerved into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, barely suppressing a yelp as she heard the sudden 'thud' of impact on the other side.
Zelda.
Her heart bawled at her mind to open the door and kiss away the pain, but she couldn't, she shouldn't, shemustn't.
Zelda was a princess. Zelda was a princess with rules and responsibilities and a kingdom of subjects to protect and rule over.
Samus was a hunter. Samus was a killer. Samus had taken more lives than she could count and a career that meant she could never guarantee her safe return home every night; a price on her head so high that even the richest of rulers and monarchs would envy.
If she let this continue, if she let this twisted and star struck romance continue, she could never give Zelda the hero she had heard of in the fairy tales that shaped her childhood daydreams and desires...
But god did she want to.
The number of nights she'd lay awake in the silence of countless galaxies just dreaming of holding Zelda in her arms, to meet her lips and whisper the endless sweet nothings that threatened to spill out whenever their eyes met.
The number of times she'd dreamt of abandoning everything to join her hand in hand down in the peaceful land of Hyrule, or take her up into the ship and travel the everlasting expanse of space and its wonders side by side.
A bitter heat flickered into life between her thighs.
Back pressed firmly against the other side of the door, Samus let off a guttural growl muffled only partially by the balled fist she had sunk her teeth into. Thoughts clouding in the front of her mind, not even she knew if it was truly to halt the sound or if it were some worthless attempt to douse the pain tearing through her chest like a forest fire. Rage scorched from the pit of her stomach up to the lump in her throat, and the blonde let off a hoarse moan laced with sorrow.
Shaking fingertips brushed over curves and contours that she had shamelessly memorised over countless lonely nights, and with her bottom lip clamped between her teeth, Samus found her vision blurred by what she couldn't deny were tears.
Samus Aran doesn't cry.
Self loathing was something Samus had never cared to dwell on; she found it to be pitiful and a waste of both time and energy; a distraction from her already discord fuelled life; but when the early hours of the morning wound around and she found herself with nothing but her own company in the deafening silence and endless barrenness of space it was a bittersweet familiarity she had grown attached to as though it were somehow a safe haven.
She scolded herself through gritted teeth, desperately trying to block the fact from her mind that she so dearly wished her own fingers were those of the young Hylian on the other side of the door. Her movements were almost robotic; precise movements that had been done time and time again and had long since lost any sense of lust or meaning. No feather light caresses teased the once tender flesh of her inner thighs, nor did sweet hums of satisfaction slip past her lips – she sat in weighty silence and swallowed thickly to muffle her broken grunts and whines, fingers moving with such force and urgency to finish that she didn't bother to fight the worry over bruises.
Somewhere in Samus' mind she was sure that she deserved them.
Merely inches away behind the meagre barricade, Zelda knelt with her back pressed against the same door. Trembling hands had fumbled under the folds of her skirt, and she pressed her ear to the door in the ravenous hope that she might catch the hint of sound from Samus' end. She worked faster, more delicately than the blonde, and she hoped that each fervent whimper may somehow draw Samus closer; may convince her to open the door and accept the fate they had so blindly, even helplessly, run into.
Both women knew without a doubt that the same smouldering despair was unfolding on the other side of the door, but to even consider facing such a fact felt unthinkable. Neither was sure if hitting their peak would bring relief or a further wave of problems, but they were too far lost in double-edged fantasies to even consider taking the road back. It was also not lost on either that they would never be able to meet the other's eyes in the same way again, and that this was the final step too far between them to go back to a casual affiliation. Friends, if that were even possibly the correct term to use by this point of no return, did not lie awake in the dead of night with hot breath and soft cries desperate for some sort of release.
The heat that raged through their body defied any attempt to dull against the cold of the tiles and floorboards, but Zelda was the first to crack.
"Samus..." She pleaded weakly, eyes shut tight as though it would block out the harsh reality that her once organised and dignified life had spiralled into, and pressed herself harder against the door in the hopes that somehow she might hear a response from the other side; a whimper, a moan, a simple 'Zelda' would be enough to make this unbearable ache all worthwhile... But she was met with unavoidable silence, and both found themselves unable to move.
A long time passed before Zelda heard Samus stir, but instead of the husky, silken voice she yearned for, she was met with the stifled weeping of a broken young woman instead.
Samus' world had come crashing down around her.
Hearing Zelda's pure, clear voice plead through the door, pleading for her, with such need and longing was enough to drive a stake of near unbearable sadness through her chest.
Was this what a broken heart felt like?
Fingers slipped free, and Samus no longer desired to hit release. She felt dirty, she felt guilty, and she felt a heart wrenching need to throw open the door and take Zelda into her arms – but she knew better than such. She knew that to close the distance between them could be a fatal mistake for either, and she couldn't allow such a well kempt and full of life young woman, a princess with a country to rule no less, to get tangled in her world. A world of despair, a world of murder, a world that was the war dance under the name of Samus Aran.
When Samus next opened her eyes, they were squinted against the morning light of the sun. Sometime between the crying and the anger she had passed out, although for how long she was out the blonde did not know.
The memories of the night before rushed back, and sadness welled up in her gut once more.
'Fuck, no, not now, Aran. You're better than this.'
It was a long time before she worked up enough ego to pull back the door and face what could possibly be an angry and expectant Zelda on the other side, but when she was met with the sleeping body of a young Hylian princess lay obediently at a bathroom door – having slept on the floor no less – Samus' already dented heartstrings received a sharp tug. The steady rise and fall of her chest and slightly parted lips seemed so peaceful, but the way she curled her back and clung to the fabric of her now dirtied dress reflected a much more stressful state of mind.
Samus sighed, and it occurred to her that she had never really considered how demanding Zelda's life really must be. It was a lot of people to care for, an entire kingdom, and with great responsibility always comes great sacrifice. She should ask about that sometime.
As she gazed down at Zelda's still sleeping form, the huntress sighed.
"I can't leave her like this." She said more to herself than anybody, scooping the sleeping beauty into her arms and carried her over to the bed she was supposed to have slept in. As she stood by the foot of the bed with Zelda in her arms, Samus stood still for a while. She closed her eyes, savouring the peaceful and fearless closeness between them. She didn't have to think about finding words to say or concern over what she should do; she could simply stand in serenity with Zelda's soft breaths to break the silence and enjoy her warmth before carefully laying her down onto the bed. She drew the covers over her slowly, removed her crown and placed it neatly on top of the drawers at the head of the bed. An electric glow buzzed through her chest as Zelda unconsciously nestled down, and a smile dared to tug at the sides of Samus' lips.
"Why d'you have to be so fucking cute?" She asked forlornly, perching herself on the edge of the bed and shuffled back, bringing her knees up to tuck beneath her chin. She hugged her legs close and hid her face, trying to block out the occasional breathy sigh that escaped the princess' lips. She would glance over occasionally, catching herself dearly wishing that she could be huddled in the warmth beside the young princess with arms around her waist and feel warm breath on her neck. She dared to reach out with one hand and tuck a few stray strands of hair behind Zelda's perky ears, and the blonde found herself with a sad smile.
Samus sighed hopelessly, releasing her legs to rise reluctantly to her feet and crack her shoulders with a few much needed stretches.
"Fuck, wait. I can't be here when she wakes up, that'll be terrible for the both of us."
Within minutes Samus was gone, disappearing without a trace as she did best and it was a long time before Zelda stirred.
Cerulean eyes fluttered open, and it took a few moments to process that she was in her bed. She hadn't put herself to bed.
She closed her eyes tight and awaited the inevitable wall of emotion about to hit her as memories came swarming back, but one lone realisation jerked her to sit upright.
Only Samus could have put her here.
Samus must have actively picked her up, carried her over, and tucked her into bed. The lone thought was enough to Zelda blush profusely, and as she spotted her crown placed so neatly on the drawers a cheerless smile came to her face. One thing was for sure, Samus definitely returned some sort of feeling for her– and that was something that she wasn't going to let go of so easily.