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His knees hit the grass, the chilling winds of Hyrule field cutting his cheeks and further ruining his blood caked hair. The Bow of Light vanished into particles, the only evidence that he was holding the mystical bow in the first place were the indents they left on his gloved hands, only proving how tightly he clutched onto the weapon. Everything was silent; no beating of bird wings, no roar of an impending doom; just the static that resonated from his exhausted body and his ragged breath.
Link snapped his head of beautiful dirty blonde up at the area, away from his calloused hands, suddenly aware of the rotting flesh that stained the field with black. The gurgling of the acidic insides of the beast he just defeated filled his ears and it took a lot of mental prowess to keep him from throwing up. He clutched his stomach, trying to even out his breathing.
The boy was a mess. His Champion’s tunic was missing an arm from when The Calamity threw spears at him earlier and his trousers were covered in his own blood and that horrific muck that spewed out from the dying beast. Link couldn’t even find himself enough strength to pick himself up. The adrenaline had worn off leaving him a heaping mess of exhaustion and wounds that needed to be treated right away or he’d be on his way to Infection Town. The boy pulled the Master Sword from it’s scabbard and stabbed it into the earth, trying to wobble himself to stand. Before he could use what little strength he had left to push himself up, a lithe hand graced his fading eyesight.
His heart stopped, he had completely forgotten. Through the mess of the battle he was just in with Ganon’s two forms, the raging blood in his ears, the power of courage surging through his veins; the real hero of this story completely slipped his mind. The one who kept Demise at bay with all of her strength. Cerulean optics snapped up at shining emerald ones, a smile gracing her already beautiful features.
The champion’s voice quivered, his hands shaking as he observed the goddess before him.
“Ze-Zel—“
She giggled, light and airy; though ragged with 100 years of battle. “My knight,” she spoke, voice like a melody trapped in a cave, echoing. Zelda looked exactly as he left her, gorgeous in her Goddesses gown, hair down creating a golden, glowing halo around her figure. He didn’t take her hand, his energy completely replenished when his eyes connected with her. Link could feel the tears prick at the corner of his eyes, but he held them back.
He stood to his full height, half a foot taller than her (to which he beamed, he was shorter than her before The Calamity struck) his hands twitching at his sides, the mystical sword clanking as it hit the grass. Link wanted to grab her, to hold her against his form and revel in the softness that was her entire being. He wanted to bury his face in her neck and hair, wondering if she still smelled like the orange blossoms that grew outside of her window in the castle.
She hinted she was hurt that he didn’t take her hand, recoiling the pale appendage to her chest.
But as she retreated, his arm shot up, claiming her forearm in his calloused palms. The shock was evident in her sparkling evergreen eyes, but then widened even more as Link lead her palm to his bruised cheek; his long blonde lashes fluttering shut as he was overwhelmed with her energy.
“Zelda… Zelda…” he repeated her name like a prayer, nuzzling her palm, letting her fingers graze his nose and mouth. He inhaled her scent, metallic and ancient, completely foreign to him. He was taken back, his mind already mentally preparing him for orange blossoms but instead being greeted by what he thought a stone well filled with moss would smell like.
It was strange, everything about her was so new and not what he had expected. Her hands were pale like he remembered, but the gritty, concrete feeling of her palm was something unusual to him. She also felt cold, her soul distant even though she was in front of him, shining that signature smile of hers. The back of his head told him this wasn’t it, this wasn’t the endgame he had worked so hard for ever since he woke from his 100 year slumber. But his heart, oh his poor, old, aching heart, pleaded with him to fall to his knees and worship her as the Goddess-born mortal that she was.
“May I ask,” her voice croaked out again, alien to Link’s elongated ears, “do you really remember me?”
The dam that the blonde boy built, burst to smithereens as the tears came rushing down his face; the rivulets leaving clear trails on his blood and dirt stained cheeks. He wailed, eyes closed shut tightly as he grasped her hand in his. Clutching her hand to his forehead, Link allowed the emotions he kept pent up all this time during his travels to flow freely. Gods, was his heart torn. He did it, he saved his princess, the one who sailed through his memories, taunting him of a life he no longer knew.
“Zeldaaaa—“ he choked like a child, “I missed you, I missed you so damn much.” His words were worship to the goddess who kept his princess safe. He didn’t even answer her question and just continued to cry like a child who hadn’t seen his mother after being apart for so long.
The princess brought her other hand to his cheek, tightening her grip on the one in his hand, “Oh, Link,” she began to cry. She pressed her forehead to his chest and let her sobs rock her entire being, just as emotionally and physically exhausted as her knight.
At this action, Link automatically wrapped his battle worn arms around the girl. Finally he could place his head atop of hers, closing his eyes and letting the rest of his whimpers fade out as he was comforted by her presence. She was finally in his arms. Finally!
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into his stained Champion's tunic, “I’m sorry.”
“What for, Princess?” The knight questioned in between sniffles. He tried to bring her eyes up to his, but she kept her face buried.
She was silent and for a second Link almost thought she wasn’t breathing anymore. The silence stretched out as the tree-less field allowed the winds to freely tear at the flowers and blades of grass around them; an almost ominous air. It was a while until Zelda pulled away, their fingers intertwined, but her eyes downcast and evading Link’s curious gaze.
“Thank you for saving me,” she toyed with the seams of Link’s gloves, something she frequented when she was nervous, his heart filled with joy as the memory resurfaced.
“You’re welcome Princess,” he said, smiling handsomely.
“But I…”
Link froze where he stood, the hair on the back of his neck rising up, the feeling he gets when a Lynel makes eye contact with him. His breath stuck in his throat as he waited anxiously for what the princess had to say.
“Link I’m so sorry,” she said breathlessly, pulling her hands away.
Of course he pulled back, “Why do you keep saying that, Princess?” He turned his head downwards, trying to catch her eyes but failed as she bowed her head down.
A pale hand reached up to brush her tears away, “You did so much for me, yet I do nothing in return…”
The knight wanted to laugh, to kiss her tears away and whisk her off to his Hateno home where he could fuss over her in a comfortable atmosphere. She didn’t deserve to be standing in a middle of a acidic field filled with the venomous scent of Ganon’s decaying body, in a dirty, 100 year old dress. The image of her in his mind was that of a girl smiling, blinding like the sun as she raves about Silent Princesses and ability enhancing frogs.
“You don’t have to do anything,” he whispered against her hair, having already given up on trying to see her eyes and retreated back to her soft halo of blonde. “You being here is enough for my eternity.” The handsome knight wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut, enjoying the time he was currently sharing with her. His body began to sway to a rhythm only he could hear, calming his nerves and hoping to calm hers as well.
But then she pulled away again, this time untangling herself from Link, fingers and all. A frown tugged on his full, chapped lips. He wanted to question why she kept distancing herself from him, he wanted to voice how this hurt him.
“I’m out of time,” she said, her voice steady and commanding, small fists clenched to her sides.
“Out of what time, Princess?” He looked around him, trying to identify what she was referring to, “Ganon is defeated, all we have is time together… right?” Link was afraid that Zelda was rejecting him. Were all those memories he gathered through his travels one-sided? Had Zelda never shared the same feelings he harbored towards her? Link opened his mouth once again, but only a weak whine escaped his lips.
Zelda said nothing, her malachite eyes boring holes into Link’s. Her face was twisted with a current of emotions like fear, relief, and sadness, but why? He defeated the evil and recovered her from 100 years of suppressing a monster. Then she closed her eyes.
“Zelda—” he reached for her hand, but his fingers fazed right through her. Suddenly, thunder boomed above their heads, the once clear skies curling into an evil storm. Lightning struck the remaining trees that weren’t destroyed during the beast Ganon’s rampage. Link shielded himself from the light and roared out Zelda’s name, frightened of what was happening, but more worried about her well being than his.
When his misty eyes finally landed on her again, she was glowing. A gold, ethereal power engulfed her being as she clasped her hands together in prayer, her eyes shut in concentration. She was rising, as if the heavens were claiming her small form.
“Zelda!” He exclaimed, rushing towards her, pushing through the violent winds that tore up his clothes. “Zelda!”
“I’m sorry.” She said, her eyes opening revealing to Link an extreme sadness, tearing his heart in two and stopping him in his tracks, “You did all of this for me… a dead girl.”
Her words boomed in his ears almost splitting his head in half, the poison of her expression spreading throughout his battle torn body. “What do you mean?” He choked out, the hurt in his chest so immense that he held onto his shirt for dear life. “Zelda what do you mean!?” He roared.
“I’m sorry Link…” She couldn’t meet his eyes, her hands tightening “I died long ago inside the castle… I’m just the spirit of Zelda.” She clenched her teeth, “I’m sorry for leading you on to all of this… Hyrule is saved, but…” more tears left the corner of her eyes, “I died before you could reach me… I-I’ve failed you…”
The last of her words were drowned out by the whipping winds and the crashing thunder. Link collapsed to his knees, the small amount of strength he had left drained by the current events.
She, the girl who lead him to his memories, the one who haunted his dreams at night with sweet promises of the love they once shared; she was dead. She was dead this entire time, taunting him.
Link wanted to scream, he wanted to fucking kill something, it all just seemed so unfair. Simultaneously he felt every emotion of dread under the sun. His fingerless gloves dug into the grass as a defeated sob tore through his lithe body. He bowed his head down, golden tresses coming into contact with the dirt floor. All of this… for nothing.
“How could you?” He pleaded. “How could you do this to me Zelda?” The poor knight spoke to the floor, too tired to even look at the girl who betrayed him.
Zelda stood her ground silently. She wanted to comfort him, wanting nothing more than to gather this poor beaten boy in her arms and coddle him. She felt like absolute shit, more sad than the day she woke up next to her own cold body. “We’ll meet again.”
Link looked up at her, grief stricken.
“The soul of the Hero,” she spoke with quivering lips, “will always come to the aid of the Goddess.” Those words were not hers, she knew. It was the Goddess pushing her voice to escape her lips, torturing her poor knight with harsh words. The heavens were already calling her.
“I don’t care about any of that shit!” He lashed out, fury boiling in his chest and in his stomach, “I don’t fucking care about any goddess I don’t care about being a fucking hero!” Fire clawed at the inside of his throat as he forced out his voice, “Fuck my destiny, fuck the goddess for cursing us like this!” His hands punched at the floor repeatedly.
“I just,” he breathed out, “wanted" the tears running down his cheeks felt like acid, " you.”
“I’m sorry.”
He looked up just in time to see the tips of her hair fading into soft particles.
“I’m sorry Link.”
His feet and legs stood and raced towards her before his brain could even register it.
“I truly am.”
Bloodied fingers reached forward as his legs launched him towards her.
“I love you.”
He hit the ground, Zelda completely gone.