38. I want you to kill me

Link looks down at the floor, water sprayed everywhere and lots of pieces of the broken vase, he was not angry at Zelda for trying to hurt him, he understood where she was coming from, he would have done the same thing in her position. He was angry at the mindless destruction of property, that vase WAS NOT HERS. And he was also overwhelmed by the loud sound the vase made when it smashed on the door, it had surely alerted someone. Link watches silently as Zelda picks up a piece of the broken vase and charges

LINK POV

Oh, is that what we are gonna do today? We are gonna fight? Bring it on kitty

Zelda tries to stab him using her right hand, but the movement felt too slow, too weak. Link easily blocked her attack with his left hand, grabbing on to her wrist and twisting her arm behind her back.

"Drop it"

CRACK! Link breathes out upon hearing the sound of the vase fragment dropping to the floor, he releases his hold on the Princess, she immediately turns to him and knees him in the groin, Link falls to his knees in pain and Zelda tackles him to the floor, then begins to punch him.

What is wrong with her? She is not even trying
*What is wrong with her? What is wrong with YOU? defend yourself.
I can't in good conscience do that, besides, I won't hit her back when she is not really punching me… she is pretending to do so, I don't know why, but I know she does not want to hurt me.
*She is provoking you then, your Princess wants YOU to punish her, DO IT

Zelda kept throwing swings at Link, he covers his face with his fore arms and pumps up his hips, causing the Princess to lose her balance since she was seating on his mid-section, she falls forward as Link quickly get out from under her, when she sees him free, Zelda tries to crawl away but Link places a foot on her back pressing her against the floor. He then crouches over her and pulls on that messy blond mane of hers, making her arch her neck and the top part of her back. He leans forward and whispers in her ear

"So, you wanted to dance with the devil"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Link closes his eyes in relief, he really enjoys the idea of punishing Zelda, but this felt bittersweet. He releases the Princess and stands up to open the door.

"GOOD AFTHERNOON, there were some complains about noises coming from your room, is everything ok?" asks the young Concierge

Link smiles sheepishly "yeah about that, I am very clumsy, I tripped and broke one of your decorative vases, I just finished cleaning it up so don't worry about sending someone over, just charge it on me"

"Are you sure? The complains suggest a fight may be taking place" the Concierge continues to ask worried, since the people using these room are kids, he must be extra cautious.

"No fight was taking place, what the people heard was me having one of my seizures, by the way, it was not him who broke the vase, it was me" Zelda says as she also approaches the door smiling

The concierge gawks at the Princess, she is beautiful and the short messy hair makes it difficult for him not to think of sexual intercourse. He immediately shakes his head remembering she is underage and that her brother IS present, or at least that is what he was informed at the front desk, that the room was being used by underage siblings, ant that it was paid by the boy since he had a power of attorney, by law the staff could dismiss his age... fucking rich people.

Link notices the naughty looks the concierge was directing at Zelda and growls, Zelda giggles and ensures the concierge they are fine closing the door. But she stays until she hears the man start to walk away, the Princess turns and leans her back on the door covering her face with her hands.

"Are you done now or should we continue where we left off?" Link asks

"I am spent. If you want to continue, I won't say no, but I will not be fighting you back"

"Why must you take away the fun from EVERYTHING?" sighs "what you said was a joke right?"

"That I would not mind if you continue beating me? I mean every word" tears start to fall from her eyes

"I want you to kill me" Zelda tells him somberly

I failed, I underestimated this whole situation, Tudor didn't break his daughter, he killed my Princess
*Zelda is still there, you can hear her, see her and even smell her. As long as she is still around you can glue her back. Didn't you said you would pick up her pieces? WELL FUCKING DO IT.

"Why would I kill you?" Link asks shaking his head in disapproval

"Because there is nothing left for me, I am a failure. I am a terrible daughter and I suck even more at being a princess. I loved and believed in someone who never loved me, and you know what the sad part is? That I witness the beatings he gave my mother, and how he used to spend our money on alcohol and other women. And for some fucked up reason I forgot about it all, how can a person forget this" Zelda starts banging her head with her hands, Link grabs her wrist to stop her from hurting herself.

*This is it; this IS how you help her, Vincent talked about this once, just digest it a little for her

"It was actually perfect, you were very small therefor, you had no control on what was happening, your brain did what it needed to do to keep you safe and ensure your continuity" Link started his speech

"Make me stupid and forgetful?" Zelda said scowling

"Giving you selective amnesia, hence making you forget painful events and love your tormentor, that way you would not act defiant towards Bardick, meaning he won't feel the need to beat you too" Link smiles and taps on her forehead with gloved index finger "I am actually impressed that your toddler brain pulled this stunt, selective amnesia is a FUCKING COMPLEX survival mechanism… it managed to keep you safe"

Zelda pondered about it for a while, then started to smile

"I guess I am just that awesome, and now that you mention it, makes sense that mom is a light sleeper, she must have developed that as a survival mechanism too, right?" Zelda asks him, still teary eyed but slowly regaining her happy attitude and curiosity.

Link opens his eyes wide before slowly frowning at her "Indeed… so you KNEW she could have caught me red handed, and still didn't bother to inform me, because fuck me, right?" he says smiling a little

This girl and her fucking memory are going to get me killed one of these days, at least I did manage to bring her up a little. The fact that she wanted to die worries me, she is more unstable now due to this whole situation, I need to be mindful of that before doing something that could throw her over the edge. Hopefully I can help her leave all this behind and start anew.

ZELDA POV

I… didn't told him? and he still managed to steal my seal? How the did he do it?

"I would love to tell you I did it on purpose to fuck with you, but I didn't. It completely slipped my mind, I am sorry. But I can PRAISE you for still managing to do steal for me, or do something for you in return if you want" the Princess offers with sincerity.

"I don't need praise, but I do want you to do something" Link draws his cellphone and shows her pictures of female clothing "lets scroll through some catalogs, you can start picking the kind of clothes you would like, saving us TONS of shopping time tomorrow"

OMGODESSES, YES! I WOULD GLADLY DO THAT.

"I really HATE shopping, but it needs to be done, I am not backing down on it" Link tells her honestly

"Then I will gladly help shorten the torture time" Zelda winks at him

Link signals for her to follow him and they both sit on a couch. As they start scrolling Zelda is slowly learning how the cellphone works and asks to look for clothes on her own. Link just nods and stands leaving her there as he leaves the room.

I WANT A CELLPHONE, these things have many useful appliances, like an alarm and a flashlight. How much would it cost to buy one? Wait… where is Link? Did he just leave me here alone? Why would he do that? I am hurt, not physically but still… and he just abandoned me in my time of need, who does that? [Bardick smiling face]
But Link is not like that fucker, is he? Link actually cares… in his own way. But then again, why would he care? why wouldn't he leave me? I have been HORRIBLE to him.

The door opens and in comes Link with some takeout food, and a bag with a few water bottles, a small cereal box, and milk. Link freezes when he notices Zelda staring at him, her eyes about to spill tears.

"Thought you may be hungry" Link says lifting the take out a little

He went for food, he did not leave me, I WILL NOT CRY… oh what the hell.

Zelda stands dropping the cellphone on the couch and runs to hug Link crying, then starts to weakly bang on his chest

He is at fault here; he could have told me he was going out for food. But then again, he does not speak unless spoken to, or if he really needs to. Well, I don't care, he is at fault and THAT IS IT.

Link kind of hugs her back with one arm and starts laughing "you weren't scared of course"

"Of course" Zelda answers letting go of Link "but I AM a little hungry, could you divide the food in two portions? I get the smaller one" Zelda says looking up at him with puppy eyes.

"No" Link breaths in "I don't eat much; I would rather you eat and I finish what is left"

"What are you talking about? I have seen you eat at the castle, and it's like feeding 4 men" Zelda reminds him of how bestial his appetite can be.

"I am not allowed to eat much while I am here" Link raises s finger in the air to silence Zelda before she starts arguing "I will explain, due to the nature of my job I need to be ready to act at all times. A person will not move or react as fast with a full stomach, I do not allow myself to eat to my heart's content during my stay on this world, only enough to survive… as I said before, YOU eat. I will feed on anything left"

I… CAN'T ACCEPT THAT, what if I leave too much? Or WORSE, too little… I can definitely see him starving with a smile on his face for my sake. He has to separate his portion first and I eat the rest, not the other way around.

Zelda grabs the foam take-out container and hands it to Link

"I don't want to make mistakes, pick your portion and I eat the rest, if for some reason I can't finish it, I will eat the rest in the morning as my breakfast" Zelda states and turns her back on Link, leaving no room for argument.

Link raises an eyebrow, and then starts piling some food in a corner of the Styrofoam container, carefully and clearly separating his portion from the rest of the food. Then hands it back to Zelda.

"JUST THAT?" Zelda questions him.

Link confidently nods at Zelda

"This is torture, and why are you doing this? I MEAN you told me but still, are we in danger? Or why do you need to enter this protocol now?" Zelda asks a little worried

"No, we are fine, this mission is not dangerous at all, but I still need to take all precautions because you are here with me. I can't let anything happen to you; I need to be fast to be able to ensure that."

So, it's my fault he is not eating then. No Zelda, don't put words on his mouth, he never said that. It's his job, he would still enter this tortuous protocol even if I was not here.

Zelda breaths in deeply, then proceeds to eat her food leaving Link's small portion, once done eating she picks back the cellphone and continues using it until late at night. Link bathes and starts turning the lights off, he approaches Zelda to take the cellphone away forcing her to go to sleep.

He should at least SAY something, not just take the cell away and turn the lights off. She glances at the TV before he turns it off, it read 12:36pm at the lower right corner. All right, IT IS LATE, I forgive him.

But Zelda keeps turning in her bed, memories with Bardick and what he has done kept plaguing her mind. Huffing she leaves her bed and stands near a window.

Lots of lights on even though the hour, people here don't sleep apparently. So different from the world I live in, and worst of all, there's nothing to see, no one in sight to distract me from my demons. She turns from the window and sees Link lying face down on his bed. Maybe HE can help me chase them away.

She heads to Link's bed and slowly slips in, trying hard not to wake him up. Once she manages to get on his bed and under the sheets, she noticed he was shirtless and rolls her eyes.

Of course, he is, and why am I getting under the sheets with the human heater to begin with? I am going to burn, I may not deserve to be living, but I am no masochist.

The Princess removes the sheets from herself and lays on top of them, still trying to get as close to Link as possible, but still avoiding touching him, she didn't want to disturb his sleep. She manages to get close enough to smell him and feel the heat emanating from him, that lulls her to sleep. Link opens his eyes when he perceives the change in her breathing pattern. Upon seeing her sleeping, Link chooses to ignore her presence, and tries to go to sleep, but sooner than later Zelda starts whimpering during her slumber.

LINK POV

This girl just keeps challenging me one way or another. I don't want to wake her, its late and she needs her rest. Would me hugging her be enough to stop her trembling and silence her whimpers? Because I also need my sleep, I may not be Claire Harkinian, but I am a respectable light sleeper.

Link shifts his position to facing up and slowly pulls her in for a hug, her head ends up resting on top of his right shoulder and her right arm resting on top of his chest. She stops her trembling and smiles; the effect was almost immediate.

Now this is odd, back when we were running from the Gerudos, Zelda could not sleep, she kept tossing and turning. And I was there too, but right now she is smiling. What is different? how did I pull this off? Because let's be real here, I am no sweet dream; I am a hell of a night; she can't possibly feel safe with me.
*well you have put on an EXELENT production here, Hollywood would gladly take you if you leave SWORD… As for her, I kind of feel sorry, she feels safe cause you have been her rock up until now, if only she knew how many times a day I want to dissect her. And how easily I could persuade you do it.
Link bites hard on his hand trying to chase the images away from his mind.

EASY THERE, don't make me regret not taking those pills.

"Thanks for buying me a cell" Zelda suddenly blurts out during her sleep

Link just looks at her incredulous, and then starts laughing.