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The waterfalls surrounding the Spring of Power are beautiful - cliffs padded with moss tower above, and lily pads float daintily about in the rippling water, casting shadows onto the stone under the princess's feet. Link would be in awe at the sight of it, if his back wasn’t turned to it all to keep a watchful eye on the entrance to the spring. Bokoblins and Moblins ran rampant in the area, and more than once a rustling in the foliage had made Link grip the hilt of his sword tighter in anticipation, only for a deer or fox to dash past the spring. When they first arrived he’d almost insisted on patrolling the perimeter while the princess conducted her prayer, but she had scoffed and told him to just stand watch at the entrance. I’d never be able to focus with all the noise you make , she whispered once they’d arrived, rolling her eyes the way she always did.
And so he does as she asks, his hands crossed atop the hilt of his sword and his eyes scanning the treeline vigilantly for any monsters who dared venture too close. He’d long since lost track of how long they’d been at the spring and the sun had long since set, taking its warmth with it and replacing it with a chill in the air.
Zelda stands waist-deep in the spring and speaks quietly, though if Link focuses a little more on her than his surroundings, he can just about make out what she’s saying as her voice grows more and more desperate with every word. “I’ve spent every day of my life dedicated to praying,” she says, followed by a sigh and the splash of what Link assumes is something hitting the water. Her next words are lost to the waterfalls as her voice falls to a whisper, but she raises it once again in exasperation. “Please, just tell me- what is wrong with me?” The hitch in her voice is enough to tear Link’s focus from the treeline almost as soon as he’s aware of it. He snaps to attention, lifting his sword by the hilt with his left hand and turning to face her. “What’s wrong with me?” she sobs, her hands muffling her voice as they cover her face. Tears drip into the spring through the cracks in her fingers, glittering in the moonlight as they fall. Link takes a careful step forward, off the rock that lines the spring and into the water, biting back a hiss as the cold clings to his skin. He sheathes his sword and takes another step forward, tilting his head in an attempt to get a better look at the princess. Her back is turned to him, and she pays no mind to the sound of Link approaching through the water. He tries to move quietly, to keep from startling her, though she thankfully doesn’t seem as though that’s a possibility.
He hastens when she lets out another loud sob, the echo bouncing off the wet rock. Leaping forward, brow furrowed, he bounds towards her as quickly as the water filling his boots will allow him. “Please, tell me!” she pleads with the statue, taking another step forward before Link clasps a hand onto her shoulder. She stills, tears rolling down her cheeks while she stares at the statue before them, as though it will speak directly to her. Her dress billows in the water and Link, quickly but carefully, wraps an arm around her waist. He lifts her slightly off her feet to pull her backwards out of the deep water, retreating until his knees are no longer submerged. The last thing he or any of the Champions want is for her to accidentally drown herself because of a failed ritual. She thrashes about and strikes him in the chest with her fists in an attempt to wriggle free, whimpers of effort escaping her as she does. He grunts, gritting his teeth in lieu of the surprised gasp that would surely alert nearby monsters to their presence, and finally lets her down once she begins swinging nearer to his face. “Curse you!” she exclaims as she spins to face him, planting her hands on his shoulders and shoving him backwards as forcefully as she can muster in her current state. He lands on his rear in the water and sits motionless, staring up at her with a blank expression. Her shoulders shake with what Link thinks is a mixture of anger and a weird sort of grief, her cheeks and nose tinged a soft pink. Tears fall freely now, and this version of her is almost unrecognizable compared to the calm, collected princess he’s become accustomed to. “Say something! Defend yourself! Do anything !” she screams at him, taking another step forward as though she means to strike him again. “Just- prove you’re more useful than me.” Her voice cracks on the tail end of her words and she retreats backwards, wrapping her arms around herself and shrinking down.
Link rises to his feet slowly, carefully, and takes a step towards her. His fingertips brush the fabric of her dress, and he hardly needs to pull her towards him for her to nearly crash into him. He stumbles backwards half a step, steeling his weight on the heels of his feet to keep his balance. He leans his head away from her and glances towards the trail leading to the spring, straining his ears to listen for the sound of waking monsters. His tunic muffles the princess's whimpers, but Moblins have a tendency to hear things they aren’t intended to. She sobs openly now and clutches his tunic in her fingers, mumbling things he can’t quite make out. Please don’t cry, the thought fills his mind as he raises a hand up to cradle the back of her head. His eyebrows knit together and, for a moment, he is truly lost on what to do. She’s never been vulnerable like this, around him, and especially not to this degree. His left arm hangs limp at his side, and his eyes dart from one end of the treeline to the other as his mind scrambles for a solution.
At a loss for anything else, he steps away from her. He slides an arm behind her knees and the other braces behind her back as he lifts her off her feet. She gasps and her body stiffens, but she relaxes once she accepts that Link isn’t going to drop her. Her head comes to rest on his shoulder and she sniffles one more time before falling silent. Moving carefully, Link steps out of the shallow water of the spring and onto the smooth rock lining the edge. The soft slippers on the princess’s feet are soaked through, and she shivers in the cold air of the early morning. He swears under his breath, something he’s sure would have ordinarily earned him a thorough scolding from the princess, and hastens his step to the nearest clump of trees. He sets her on her feet in the grass, and for a fleeting moment, she seems to cling to him, as though he’ll vanish beneath her fingertips if she dares let go. His fingers fumble with the clasp on the cape around his shoulders, cursing the loop of thread that seems impossibly small for the button to fit through. Finally, the clasp decides to give, and he pulls the cape from his shoulders to wrap around the princess’s shivering frame.
“Keep it,” the princess mumbles, brushing his hands away. She sniffs before standing straight and squaring her shoulders towards him, focusing on every part of his face but his eyes and her fists balled at her sides. Her lips part as though she means to say something before she clamps them shut in a firm line and scowls at the ground. His heart stops in his throat and he stares wide-eyed at her before his hands slowly replace the cape around his shoulders. His fingers twitch at his side and his heart begins beating rapidly at the thought of having upset her, though the expression on her face thankfully matches that of concentration more than frustration. He feels his entire body go rigid when she reaches forward and buttons the clasp on the cape, the notion that it was hanging loose on his shoulders long forgotten to him. “You don’t have to worry the way you do.” She levels him with a gaze that he’s sure Hylia herself would wither under before a small smile curls the corners of her mouth.
“I-” Link’s eyebrows knit together as he stares at her, the words he wants to say forming on the tip of his tongue and then disappearing just as quickly. It’s my job to worry , the thought sticks to the back of his mind as his mouth struggles to form words, and the feeling of cotton in the back of his throat causes him to clear his throat before he chokes. She stares at him with a raised eyebrow, her head cocked to the side as she waits for him to speak, even if just a single word. Instead, he presses his lips together and gives a sharp nod of his head, watching as her smile falters for a moment as he does. He clears his throat again before nodding towards the path, the early morning sun beginning to peek through gaps in the trees above as the forest wakes up around them. He can hear the snuffling about of waking Bokoblins and feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as his eyes sweep the treeline. His hand reflexively grips the hilt of his sword in its scabbard, his heart beating in his ears as he tries to listen for any other sounds signaling nearby danger. He glances at the princess out of the corner of his eye, and she seems to understand this is his que for them to rejoin the other Champions at the stable. He draws his sword from the scabbard, and she follows him as they begin the long trek back to East Akkala Stable.
He flinches when she slips her hand into his own and glances over his shoulder, and for a moment the princess thinks he looks angry before his face softens. He reaches a hand back to her, threading his fingers through hers as though it’s a second nature. I suppose for you, it is, she thinks, recalling the times he’d insisted on holding her hand when he escorted her anywhere. The thought is quickly replaced with the worry that this was all for nothing - that their efforts were all in vain and that Calamity Ganon was nigh unstoppable. The Divine Beasts were proving more difficult than they had thought, and she just couldn’t seem to grasp this stupid power that was supposed to just come naturally to her. Link wasn’t as proficient with the Master Sword as he was supposed to be and-
She realizes that she’s fixed her eyes to the ground, and that at some point they had stopped in their tracks. She glances up and feels her face pale as she realizes Link is staring her in the eye when she does so. His body is half turned towards her and he quirks an eyebrow, his eyes scanning their surroundings before refocusing on her. Don’t look at me like that, she draws in a shaky breath before opening her mouth to offer an excuse. “I’m fine, Link. I’m just thinking, that's all. Carry on.” For a moment, she thinks he’s going to question her, curiosity glimmering behind the concern in his eyes. She prays that he doesn’t, knows that if he ever asked her what was plaguing her that she would never be able to come up with an answer. And maybe, for that reason, she’s grateful that he never speaks, never questions his orders beyond a moment of hesitation before carrying them out.
I hope you know what you’re doing, her mind says to the back of his head as he turns around to resume their journey. This was going to be far more difficult than she had originally thought.