Link tried and failed to relax himself to sleep. He had twisted and turned, for what felt like hours, trying to force himself to sleep. But as the hours trickled by, his candle burning lower and lower, he felt increasingly awake, much to his frustration.
He was very tempted to growl, as he hurled his head into the pillow.
Why was he so nervous? Tomorrow was the fourth council meeting he had to attend as Commander of Hyrule’s Armies, the fourth! Not the first! He wasn’t a complete dunce anymore. And yet, he was absolutely terrified.
Why?
Not because of the few stuffy nobles there, after Zelda’s dramatic reshuffle of the cabinet.
Or because he knew he blushed whenever Zelda set her gaze on him.
Or because he knew he was a foot shorter than everyone else there.
Nope, all of those had been reasons why he was nervous the first time, but not this time, no.
This was the first meeting at which he actually had to present a report. Because at the three previous ones, there had been no army to begin with, and all he had to say was: “We are currently recruiting, a more detailed report will be presented once we have sufficient numbers and a training programme has started.”
But now, four months later, he had set up the Army. He had slowly recruited 100 men and women across Hyrule in three months to become the new soldiers. And a month ago, he had called all of them up, and begun their training, which he had personally overseen. Now, they were at a point where they were competent in handling both single-handed sword and bow. In fact, just last week they had left to go on a training course in Snowpeak, supervised by Ashei, and he was fairly confident in their abilities to survive in the wilderness too.
He was proud of his team. He was proud of all they had achieved in the past month. And he wanted to do right by them, and present their achievements appropriately. But his hands shook, his words stumbled into each other, and he felt like a stuttering fool of a farmer from Ordon every time he dared say more than three lines strung together.
The damn meeting was tomorrow, and he felt completely ill-prepared, and sick to his stomach. Why had he thought coming to the castle after it was all said and done would be a good idea? Why? Why hadn’t he just stayed in Ordon? He pulled out the tattered piece of paper with his speech written on it and started to read through the words again, but his ear twitched when he heard footsteps approaching.
The door connecting his room to Zelda’s inched open.
And a concerned Princess in a satin nightdress with a similarly coloured overcoat and a glowing hand sneaked in.
There was the answer as to why he was still here. Only one other person had understood the loss he had so keenly felt after Midna had left. And it was only natural he’d turn to her light to brighten the shadows Midna’s departure had left.
But now he felt like an even bigger jerk for waking her up. Goddesses knew she did at least four times as much work as he did, and she needed the sleep.
“Link, is everything alright?”
“Yes. I’m- I’m sorry for waking you-”
Her eyes flickered to the paper in his hands, to the candle, to his state of undress because he had been trying to sleep and - oh- oh no- he didn’t have a shirt on! It didn’t take her very long to connect the dots. “Are you worried about tomorrow?”
She came to sit by his bed. Apparently she wasn’t perturbed by his lack of appropriate clothing. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. And the blush started to creep up his cheeks again. What had she asked?
Oh right.
“Yes. A little.”
“You needn’t be. It’s not a formal event, Link, it’s just the councillors, most of whom you are well acquainted with… What are you concerned about? Did any of them say anything?” Her amethyst eyes sparked, and he immediately sat up. He couldn’t have her go on an unnecessary rampage, he knew he had partly been the reason why so many of the previous councillors were kicked out.
“No- it’s not- it’s not the people there, Zelda.”
Her hand found his and his heart squeezed. “Tell me? I would like to make your life as easy as possible, Link. I don’t want you to face any more hardships after all you’ve endured for Hyrule.”
He heaved a sigh. He didn’t want to appear weak in front of her, of all people. “I’m. I’m just nervous about saying it in front of them, is all. I… I don’t exactly have much experience with public speaking. And it- it makes me very nervous.”
Her smile was reassuring. She leant forward and brushed his bangs out his eyes, and then pressed a kiss to his forehead.
He very nearly combusted.
“Why didn’t you say so Link? I am more than happy to practise with you. We could have done this much earlier, if I had known, but there is no time like the present.”
He whispered out a vague “sure”, and then she stared expectantly at him.
He fought to not swear as his heart rate shot up. “I would like to report on-on-” Spirits. He was already failing- he risked a glance her way and she was still smiling, still listening. She squeezed his hand tighter, and he squeezed back this time.
He could do this.
“I would like to report on-on-” He let out a frustrated sigh. Why couldn’t he use his voice? Why couldn’t he speak properly?
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. Take a deep breath. You’re not breathing Link. Breathe with me.”
She crossed her legs and sat across from him, holding both his hands. “Slowly, now.”
Once he calmed down, he gave it another go. “I would like to report on the Army’s progress in the last- last month.” She nodded, sagely, and he fought to keep this breathing under control.
Each line he stumbled through, she coaxed him through it. Each time he stuttered, she waited patiently. Each time he wanted to throw hands and give up, she soothed his frustrations and gave him time to try again. Half way through, she somehow magicked up fresh tea, and biscuits, and after a break to wet his throat, they continued.
By the end of it all, he finally felt prepared, and had a lot more confidence to boot. Zelda had given him plenty of tips, and told him to pretend it was only her in the room. (He couldn’t exactly confess that’s what he automatically did anyway.)
Before she left, starting to get out of his bed, he pulled on her arm. She stopped, raising a delightfully arched eyebrow at him.
“Zelda. Thank you.”
“You needn’t thank me, Link. All I did was help you realise what you already had.” Her hand rested on his cheek after pushing his bangs away.
He hesitated. She had kissed his forehead right? So he turned and kissed her palm. A light pink tinged her cheeks. And he felt himself start to heat up again. Goddesses above. He couldn’t continue to live like this.
She had given him confidence he hadn’t known he possessed. And he blurted out what he had wanted to say for a long time, and what he suspected she had been waiting for. “Will you come to the gardens with me after the meeting Zelda? I… I have something I want to say.”
And her blush turned a darker pink, as she nodded.
He assumed she knew. She was the one blessed with wisdom after all.
And what he was starting to understand now, was that courage and wisdom together… was the answer to it all.