The bed was fairly comfortable, although it wasn't as lavish as her bed in the castle had been. Rito feathers gathered over the years. The bed itself was hundreds of years old. It had probably been one of the first casualties, although inconsequential compared to everything else. This bed was definitely comfortable enough, it definitely wasn't the problem, the problem was her mind.
It wouldn't quiet down. Everything drew her attention. The house creaked slightly when it was windy. It didn't bother her during the daylight but it bothered her at night. The house was foreign, even if she was starting to get used to it after five days. The moon shone brightly through the windows dimly lighting the loft. Sleep wouldn't come. No matter how much she tossed and turned she couldn't sleep. This was unfortunately not a new problem.
After trying to turn over and try yet another position, she sat up and looked down, only darkness met her eyes. It was too late at night and she was too far to hear Link. As far apart as they were and even though she knew Link wouldn't be able to see her, even if he was awake, she wrapped the blanket tighter around her. Her ears burned slightly as she remembered how close she was to Link. Link was downstairs in a bedroll. He had been quite nice and chivalrous and had offered her the bed and to sleep downstairs, despite Zelda insisting that she take the floor.
Even though they were many feet apart, in the past the lack of a wall would have put this innocent sleeping close together into the scandalous category. Although she had often times hated the rules for royalty that she doubted the others in the kingdom had to go by, still her ears flamed. He was downstairs. There was nothing improper going on. Link was a gentleman. Even if he couldn't remember much of his days of knighthood he seemed to remember enough to be very respectful. Honestly, a bit more respectful than she would like though not more respectful than she remembered.
That wasn't helpful, she pushed down her feelings yet again. Link didn't remember her. Even if he ever did, there was no guarantee that the old Link had felt anything for her but duty. Sometimes, he smiled at her in such a way that she could see something but at the same time maybe she was seeing only what she wanted to see. Either way, it was entirely improper. She was a princess and despite all of Link's titles, he was born from the common people. Though what did that matter anymore in a world with no nobility?
They were all dead. All the nobility had fled to strongholds, all the strongholds had fallen. It was all her fault. If she had only figured out her powers out sooner she could have saved them all. Saved everyone.
It always came back to that. Maybe she didn't deserve to sleep again. Maybe the 24 hours she had slept after the fight with Ganon was the only real sleep she was going to get again other than the handful of hours she managed to snatch every night.
As the coldness of the memory of Ganon crept into her mind, she wrapped the blanket further around her. Ganon was the darkest creature she had ever beheld; even his presence held a feeling of dread. She shook her head trying to think of something else, anything else to think of.
Her eyes flickered to the moon. The moon was normal, though it was a half-moon. She dreaded the night of the blood moon, though she hoped it wouldn't come. If the blood moons stopped then maybe they would have a chance. A chance to rebuild some of what they lost. What she had caused them to lose.
Her body was surprisingly heavy for a body that wouldn't allow her to sleep as she pulled herself out of the bed. She lightly tiptoed, though she wasn't the most stealthy so the wood still slightly creaked with her to the nearest window. The pond by Link's house was glittering in the moonlight and she could see the edges of the houses across the bridge. Hateno was beautiful. One of the three existing Hylian villages. There used to be dozens and now there were three. Just three.
How could she face Impa? As much as she wanted to see her oldest and dearest friend that Link told her was still alive, every time Link asked when she wanted to see her she hesitated, and not just because she was so tired she wasn't sure if she could make the journey, even on horseback. Link had a surprising amount of horses. How could she face anyone? How could Link even stand to look at her? Maybe because he could not fully remember all that was lost? He could not fully remember his family. Their friends. Their country as it used to be. Was that a gift or a curse? Or maybe both?
Her eyes burned, they like her worn body wanted to slip into sleep's embrace, regardless of whether she would have nightmares that would wake her in hours. Nightmares often came. Despite that, she still wanted to sleep at least for a few hours but the sleep escaped from her fingers whenever she brushed by it.
The stairs got closer and it took a moment to realize she was heading towards them, even if she wasn't really sure why. She somewhat quietly walked down the squeaking stairs into the main room. Link's house was all one room, plus the loft, except for the bathroom in the back. It was quite small compared to the castle; her room itself had been nearly as big as the whole house, but it had a coziness the castle was often missing. Link had set his bedroll in the middle of the floor just by the table facing away from the loft. He was a bit harder to see because the windows were mostly focused on the loft.
He came into view a few moments later. He was softly breathing, head buried in the pillow Zelda insisted he buy as he only had one before Link had opened his house to her, despite his insistence that he didn't need it with the bedroll. His blond hair was unbound and lay a little past his shoulders. His bedroll mostly covered everything, except the top of his Hylian tunic he was still wearing from the day before. Zelda fought the urge to touch it, that would be even more improper than her being so close to him while he was sleeping.
She took a few steps back so that she wouldn't act on any of the foolish thoughts dancing in her head. Link was letting her stay here, probably out of some latent sense of duty or perhaps he remembered his oath to protect her, and even with her father…gone he still meant to keep it. It would not do to make him feel uncomfortable in his own house. Yes, because staring at him in the night was much better. She blushed harder, glad it was dark, and looked away towards the table.
All she could hear was Link's soft breathing. Link had trouble sleeping too, she had heard noises late in the night; harsh breathing, even some small grunts, and she stayed as quiet as possible pretending to be sleeping even if Link wouldn't be able to see her anyway. Neither of them brought up their nighttime problems, even though she knew the bags under her eyes were prominent. Link talked much more than he used to but not about what troubled him, though she could guess. His missing memories, his death, the battles that he fought on his way to her. His grief. Any could induce nightmares. She had no idea if there was a way to help him, she had no idea if there was a way to help herself. She couldn't even figure out how to sleep.
It was more peaceful down here, though it was darker and that really should make it worse. Having Link close somehow made her feel safer, even though she knew that if something attacked them she would be just as safe in the loft as anything would have to go through Link first. Her eyelids were starting to feel heavy.
To hell with it! She walked quietly up the stairs, gathered up everything on the bed, and dragged the blanket and a pillow down the stairs. This would be even more scandalous, even though they had often slept this close while in the wild it was quite improper in civilization. She didn't care though, she was never going to fall asleep upstairs.
She stopped about seven feet away, a slightly less scandalous distance but enough that she could still barely hear Link's breathing. She laid the blanket down on the wooden floor. It was a fairly warm night and she would have something under her than on top of her, since she had no idea if Link had another blanket than the one she just laid. If he did she hadn't seen it.
After climbing on she found it was certainly less comfortable than the bed, even through the blanket the hard cold wood floor leached some of the heat out of her but still as she settled on the pillow she could see Link in the distance just barely by the light of the moon. What's more, she could hear his soft breathing and having something to listen to and not just her own mind spinning and spinning. Her eyes closed and finally, she was able to sleep.
Please let me know what you think