1 - 20 of 60 Works in Zelda Has PTSD (Legend of Zelda)

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  1. Tags
    Summary

    What do Link and Zelda do after BOTW is over?

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,109
    Chapters:
    3/?
    Comments:
    1
    Kudos:
    3
    Hits:
    104
  2. Tags
    Summary

    After relieving Hyrule from the darkness of twilight, Link's closest companion left without further explanation. He struggles to find himself in a "new normal", and the burden of the world falls heavier on his shoulders. As his own world begins to shatter, those around him do their best to provide support.

    While facing her own demons, Zelda wants to find a way to repay the Hero of Twilight for his service to Hyrule.

    -

    TOTK sent me down my LOZ rabbit hole again :) I am doing a rewrite a fic I wrote back in high school. I've (definitely) matured since I wrote it, and wanted to reflect that in the story, and also dive deeper into certain topics!

    -

    October 2025 Note: Updates will happen around every 2 months. Any earlier, and that is a gift from me to you when I have more free time than I planned :)

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    59,281
    Chapters:
    8/?
    Comments:
    22
    Kudos:
    57
    Bookmarks:
    17
    Hits:
    2,089
  3. Tags
    Summary

    Link doesn't go back to his childhood at the end of Ocarina of time and chooses to stay with Zelda and help rebuild hyrule. However, when Zelda tells him he'd rather live as Sheik, they run away together, living as travelers. However, one night, it starts to rain horribly. Theres one problem to this. Sheik is afraid of storms.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,510
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Kudos:
    1
    Hits:
    40
  4. Tags
    Summary

    She also owed something to the people who suffered so much because of her incompetence, she didn’t know what though. Only her life seemed equal in weight, but she doubted it would do any actual good now that the danger was over.

    And the champions who fell that fateful day deserved a proper thanks and apology from the princess who had sent them to their deaths. Her father’s grave also sat upon a mountain in the great plateau, and while her feelings about the man were complex, she still mourned the man who had once loved her so dearly.

    So her and Link were to embark on a cross country trip, just them and their horses in the newly freed land she had seen so little of and he had forgotten.

    -

    Or: Zelda and Link have had a few months since the end of the Calamity to gather their wits, and in Zelda’s case, relearn how to have a physical body. Her and Link want to give proper goodbyes to their friends who died in battle. Zelda deals with her own guilt along the way.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    17,437
    Chapters:
    3/3
    Comments:
    16
    Kudos:
    24
    Bookmarks:
    2
    Hits:
    275
  5. Tags
    Summary

    The Calamity is over, and Hyrule is free. But while Link has had months to come to terms with the world he left behind, for Zelda it is only now beginning. As her body heals, she finds it is not just physical recovery she needs. Wracked with guilt that her powers woke too late to stop the calamity and haunted with dreams of Link dying in her arms, she must make peace with all she has lost, before she can find a way to move forward in the world she saved.

    [Post-Calamity. Zelink. Healing, grief, and choosing the life you want.]

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    56,523
    Chapters:
    11/18
    Comments:
    228
    Kudos:
    256
    Bookmarks:
    71
    Hits:
    6,126
  6. Tags
    Summary

    Months after the end of Twilight Princess, Link and Zelda are still drawn to each other, dreaming of each other in both sleep and wakefulness. Meanwhile, threats loom on Hyrule's borders and trust in the fledgling monarch wears thin.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    17,699
    Chapters:
    4/?
    Comments:
    64
    Kudos:
    81
    Bookmarks:
    22
    Hits:
    1,199
  7. Tags
    Summary

    "May I ask... do you really remember me?"

    When she's met with no response she worries that all she's fought for was for a man who didn't know who she was. That is, until he finally hugged her of course.

    _________

    This is my first fic, and I'm pretty bad a writing, but hopefully this turns out okay!

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    36
    Chapters:
    1/?
    Kudos:
    2
    Hits:
    85
  8. Tags
    Summary

    They had been waking up like this again for longer than a year now, bodies side by side, tangled in the quiet comfort of the space they made together.

    After saving Hyrule for a second time, Link and Zelda navigate the aftermath. Grappling with the invisible scars of trauma, they find solace intertwined in domestic everyday moments.

    Zelink Week 2025, Day Four: Intertwined

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    4,173
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Collections:
    1
    Comments:
    6
    Kudos:
    38
    Bookmarks:
    3
    Hits:
    455
  9. Tags
    Summary

    When you decided to leave this world behind, you didn’t expect to be transported to another one…
    Now, you have to figure out how you got to this beautiful new world; all while you decipher strange dreams, survive monster attacks, unravel the secrets of Hyrule, work through the trauma of killing yourself, and navigate a love triangle with the Queen and her personal knight.
    Are you going to make it out of this… dead AND alive? (SHE SAID THE THING OMG CHAT)

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    4,850
    Chapters:
    3/?
    Comments:
    6
    Kudos:
    63
    Bookmarks:
    9
    Hits:
    801
  10. Tags
    Summary

    Neither Link or Zelda had a chance to respond before the mummy held its hands over its chest and gathered the smoke-like gloom that seeped from its chest. With a guttural roar, it raised its arms. The gloom surged upwards and violently collided with the cavern ceiling above.

    Zelda could only stare in horror before the ground cracked underneath her feet. She gasped, stumbled back, and fell backward. Link jumped after her, face twisted in panic and pain, and reached out to her with his damaged arm. They just brushed fingertips before Zelda felt herself come to an abrupt stop in the air, and Link fell past her. He twisted in the air, trying to grab onto her outstretched arm, but to no avail.

    “Link!” Zelda screamed, watching in horror as Link tumbled into the depths below, swallowed by the darkness.

    After that, she felt a tug on her arm, and the world went white.

    ——————
    Or: a TOTK AU in which neither Link or Zelda are sent back in time. Instead, Link is trapped in the Depths with a corrupted arm, and Zelda is brought to the Great Sky Island by Rauru, tasked with saving Hyrule and finding Link before he's overtaken by gloom.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    238,338
    Chapters:
    36/36
    Comments:
    561
    Kudos:
    794
    Bookmarks:
    203
    Hits:
    34,286
  11. Tags
    Summary

    He dreams of her taking his hand.

    Holding it, yes, intertwining their fingers with dry skin and affection and calluses she’d shown him with fierce, grinning pride when they first developed on her perfect-soft-princess skin. Grasping his palm between both of hers, firmly but gently, as a reminder of every oath they’ve ever sworn.

    And also—

    His fingertips barely catching the edges of hers when she falls, and that slight friction ricocheting up his arm until it trembles and shatters and the splinters of his bones form the crest of a kingdom he’s been failing since the moment it actually mattered.

    She takes his hand, and he lets her. Every single time, he lets her.

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    3,568
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    11
    Kudos:
    78
    Bookmarks:
    11
    Hits:
    664
  12. Tags
    Summary

    Zelda learns what PTSD and anxiety are. Purah is an irritating friend who wears Guardian pieces like jewelry. Zelda has flashbacks and needs a vacation.

    Or: Zelda Learns what being a mess feels like!

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,312
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    2
    Kudos:
    6
    Hits:
    75
  13. Tags
    Summary

    Link sa com’è fatto un corpo, deve saperlo: un attimo e muori. Le notti nelle Terre Gerudo sono troppo fredde e le giornate troppo calde, l’umidità appena ti avvicini al Monte Morte è insopportabile e il respiro le si blocca in gola in un rifiuto a uscire. Link si porta ogni centimetro di Hyrule addosso, e Zelda si domanda come pesi meno della terra che li regge tutt’e due, loro e la storia che si ripete all’infinito.

    Link e Zelda a schegge.

    Language:
    Italiano
    Words:
    2,335
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    4
    Kudos:
    3
    Hits:
    17
  14. Tags
    Summary

    Each battle won, each shrine completed, each step on his journey is haunted by fractured memories of past failures. Unlocking the truth of his past brings only more pain, but he presses on, driven by unfading duty. Now, the calamity is finally gone, and after a hundred years Hyrule stands on the precipice of something new: a brighter future. In a field cleansed of malice, a quiet moment is shared between long lost companions, the Princess and the soldier, reunited at last.

     

    This is pretty much an expansion of the last line of botw's ending, Link's thoughts in the moment, and how this moment kind of acts as a mental turning point for Link and Zelda. If I did things right, then this should be a quick shot of nostalgic angst ending with a sweet note to make it feel good :)

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    991
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    4
    Kudos:
    14
    Hits:
    189
  15. Tags
    Summary

    The battlefield was blooming with poppies.

    The former princess made up her mind to at least try to honor the fallen warrior she’d once held so dear. She needed to do this one last thing before she let herself attempt to live again.

     

    — Or

    Zelda buries an old friend, Link accepts an offer of friendship, and Purah is getting really tired of being short

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    3,643
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    4
    Kudos:
    42
    Bookmarks:
    7
    Hits:
    293
  16. Tags
    Summary

    after zelda was captured by yuga he used her as a plaything, torturing and maiming her up until the day she was saved

    hilda and link work with her to regain her strength after the extreme toll on her body

    oh what zelda would say to hilda after learning she can no longer speak

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    8,161
    Chapters:
    4/?
    Comments:
    2
    Kudos:
    4
    Bookmarks:
    1
    Hits:
    135
  17. Tags
    Summary

    On a walk with Link after the sealing of Calamity Ganon, Zelda learns to accept her newfound freedom.

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    684
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Collections:
    1
    Comments:
    2
    Kudos:
    27
    Bookmarks:
    3
    Hits:
    332
  18. Tags
    Summary

    Zelda doesn't really know how to be queen. Who better to ask for advice than the first Queen herself?

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,820
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    12
    Kudos:
    63
    Bookmarks:
    7
    Hits:
    536
  19. Tags
    Summary

    After 100 years, Calamity Ganon has finally been sealed away. Zelda has returned to the mortal plane and Link; Hero of Hyrule, is right there beside her. Surely acclimating to this whole "being a person" business will be a cinch, right? It's not like Zelda died after all.

    Link may not be the same boy who went into that shrine all those years ago and Zelda is certainly not the same girl who prayed to the Goddess Hylia until her voice gave in, but she can't help but find comfort in the many ways Link is still the same, even if he doesn't know it himself. Even though the whole world has literally fallen to pieces, he's still there, steadfast and devoted as he was at the very beginning. Or so the legends claim.

    That being said, she could do with knowing what she's supposed to do now.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    11,842
    Chapters:
    5/5
    Comments:
    6
    Kudos:
    106
    Bookmarks:
    16
    Hits:
    1,278
  20. Tags
    Summary

    Link awakens from his slumber confused, disoriented, and annoyed with the pounding pain in his temples.

    Then he hears a voice. A voice that instantly brings his muscles to relax, his mind to quiet.

    "You are the light, our light, that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Please be careful, Link. Now, go."

    ....go?

    ~0~

    Story starts at the end of botw, rolls through the 5 year gap, and into totk all the way to the end so def spoiler warning if you haven't completed either games and also a huge attempt to make ToTK make SENSE

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    75,404
    Chapters:
    12/?
    Comments:
    21
    Kudos:
    71
    Bookmarks:
    12
    Hits:
    1,996

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