Work Text:
Link followed closely behind a very excited Zelda as they trudged through the snow on the Great Plateau, mindful of the princess, making sure she wouldn’t slip on the ice. He hadn’t had good-sized snow boots for her, and Zelda insisted they leave immediately, as she was too antsy to properly search for a pair of snow boots her size. So here they were, Link watching her movements closely, ready to catch her at even the slightest mishap.
“Link, isn’t this just wonderful?” Zelda gushed as they climbed over a fallen tree. “It feels lovely outside, and I’m just so happy to come back to this place,” she continued chattering on excitedly about how the ruins on the plateau give the place such a “historic feel.” Link smiled as he listened to her intently, happy to have her as a travel companion again.
Link had gotten quite used to being alone once he had gotten his paraglider, but after recalling a lot of his memories, especially memories of the princess, his heart ached for her presence beside him. She always had something interesting to say, and Link was glad that the traumatic experience they went through hadn’t dampened her spirits enough to silence her. Link found himself becoming sad at the thought of a silent Zelda, a Zelda that wouldn’t be excited to talk about a specific kind of pine tree.
Link quickened his pace as he snapped out of his thoughts and realized that Zelda had run ahead quite a bit. The princess had crouched beside a tree to show off her discovery: a chillshroom. Link chuckled a bit at how she immediately took out the sheikah slate to jot down notes on the mushroom.
Link got distracted by her ethereal beauty, as usual. Her rosy cheeks and nose were such a nice contrast to the pale of her skin. Her blonde hair flowed in the slight breeze, her eyes shining as she talked on about the ecosystem of the Great Plateau. To top it all off, she was wearing Link’s clothes, because she had no cold-weather clothing. Link was totally normal about that too. He definitely wasn’t getting distracted by how adorable Zelda was.
100 years ago, Link had thought she was beautiful, but it was different than how he thought of her now. Before the Calamity, Zelda was such an isolated and sad soul, resigned to her research and a failure to awaken her goddess powers. Link was no stranger to her struggles, how she pushed others away once they got too close. But as she opened up to him more and more, Link realized that they were merely two sides of the same coin.
They were just two young, sorrowful “heroes,” living under the impossible pressure of destroying Ganon. Link knew she still harbored a lot of guilt for how late her powers came to her, and Link understood that. He just hoped he could help her carry that weight.
Zelda was so much happier now, a halo of excitement and light enveloping her and brightening her features. Her beauty was even more pronounced now that she was able to live and be herself. She could talk about trees and chill shrooms all she wanted now that she was free. And that made her all the more beautiful to her knight.
“Link, did you get that?” he heard her ask him, her eyebrow raised in question. Link coughed, cheeks reddening, and mumbled, “Yes, of course.” Zelda grinned and grabbed his hand, pulling him along, almost causing both of them to slip. “Come on, Link! The day is still young and there is ever so much to see!”
Link let out a genuine laugh at Zelda’s antics as he let himself get dragged to their next interesting fungi.
Zelda stopped abruptly, Link almost running into her. He looked at her in concern. Zelda’s carefree smile had dropped from her pretty face and was replaced by a worried frown. Her grip on his hand tightened at their sides.
“Are you alright?” Link asked, turning his gaze to where she was staring. A large distance from where they were standing was an icy cold river that Link recognized as the River of the Dead.
“Have you not heard the legends about the River of the Dead?” Zelda asked him in a hushed tone as if she was worried someone would hear them. Link frowned in confusion. “It’s just a river, isn’t it? I’ve crossed it multiple times with no trouble.”
Zelda’s eyes darkened as she began to tell the tale. “I read about this in the castle library years ago. The River of the Dead is said to be the birthplace of all death in Hyrule,” she shivered, though Link didn’t think it was from the cold.
“The River of the Dead got its name from an ancient woman named Mara,” Zelda continued. “I’ve read about multiple versions; some say that Mara just happened to be the first Hyrulian to die, others say she was the first woman to be born and die in this land.”
Link nodded along, listening to Zelda speak. He swore he was hearing voices in the wind, which had picked up, whirring past them, howling.
Zelda pulled her coat further around her. “When she died, her body did not decay. They say she still sleeps in the River of the Dead. There she waits for someone to look into their reflection, their reflection the last thing they ever see,” Zelda said, turning to Link. “The legends say that Mara disguises herself as the person’s most cherished loved one who has previously died. Then, when a poor traveler thinks they can catch a glimpse of their loved one, she snatched them off the river bank to join her in her cold, cursed sleep.”
Link felt a shudder go through his shoulders and down his spine. Though he was still highly skeptical, he had to hand it to Zelda; she knew how to tell a good story. If Link remembered correctly, Zelda had always had an interest in legends, especially ones with paranormal elements.
Link squeezed her hand back and repeated, “I’ve crossed that river many times and I haven’t been pulled under.” Seeing how Zelda was not convinced, he pulled her along down a slanted slope toward the river, as she had done to him before. Though, Zelda wasn’t smiling at all. She looked uneasy.
Link led her right up to the riverbank where he dipped his hand into the freezing water to prove his point. “See? Nothing-” He spotted Zelda staring into the water with a dazed expression. Link peered into the water himself to see not the reflection of himself, but an image of a young girl.
She was blonde and blue-eyed, her face shape and stature almost identical to Link’s. It almost made him lurch back as a memory tugged at his mind: a memory from his childhood, a time before he pulled the master sword.
He remembered chasing the little girl around a cozy log cabin, an old man laughing at their antics, rocking in a nice wooden chair next to the fire, smoking a pipe. The little girl held a stuffed animal in her hands, a horse that looked identical to Epona, the horse that he owned when he was a knight.
The girl laughed and screamed as she was caught in Link’s arms, being tickled relentlessly by her older brother. Wait… Brother? That meant that this little girl was his younger sister. And if he saw her image in the water…
“Zelda, watch out!” Link yelled out as he pushed her away from the water’s edge. Before he could get away, his eyes were drawn back to the water. The image of his sister was warped into the reflection of a young but wrinkled and monstrous woman. Mara, Link thought. Before he could react and pull the sword from its sheath, cold, slimy hands surged out of the water and grabbed onto him, pulling him face-first into the piercing water, his body seizing up in terror.
Mara grabbed onto his face, her expression blank and emotionless. Another memory demanded his attention, dulling his senses and making him go limp, allowing the hands of the unfortunate to pull him deeper into the river.
Link sank into childhood bliss as he heard his sister’s sweet voice. “Link, you’re it! Try to catch me!” He complied, laughing and chasing her around the small space. The old man, who Link now remembered to be his Grandpa, laughed and said, “Go play outside, kids! Go blow the stink off, why don’t ya?”
His sister made a face and complained, “Grandpa, why do you always say that? It’s so weird.” His grandpa let out a full and hearty laugh. “You’ll understand when you’re older, Anya.”
Anya.
That was her name.
She grabbed onto his hand and they ran out the door. Link noticed their matching bracelets, made of smooth wood, as was almost everything else that they owned. Instead of continuing to play tag, Anya plopped down on the grass, encouraging Link to do the same.
“We’re always gonna be together like this, aren’t we, Link?” the girl asked with a nervous smile. Link knew he was quick to reassure her in his memories, though his heart ached uncomfortably knowing he was lying at that moment.
Time passed so quickly, hours feeling like minutes as the siblings played outside until they heard, “Anya, Link, come get washed up for supper!” from their Grandpa. Link felt himself smile at his family, content to stay forever. But then his skin began to prickle uncomfortably like someone was scratching at his arms and pulling at his brain. The memory began to fade, and Link hopelessly reached out to Anya, crying out to her.
His mouth suddenly filled with cold water, and he began to panic as his sight was clearing up. The water had lit up a considerable amount, which meant that Link could see the exit, but that also meant he could see all the people who hadn’t been as fortunate as him, the people who still had quite the grip on his arms and legs. Their overgrown nails dug painfully into the skin of his body, making him realize that his clothes were all gone except for his undergarments.
Link thrashed, panicking as his lungs burned. Then suddenly, he felt a hand, a real human hand grab onto his and start to pull him up. He looked up through his blurry, strained eyes to see his gorgeous Zelda dragging him to safety. Part of him felt happy to be saved for once, especially by the woman he loved. He’d be a fool to deny how that made him feel.
Link was very abruptly met with the brightness of the sun and the frigid cold of the snow on his bare skin. Zelda put her arms around him protectively as she drove away Mara and her angry spirits with her light powers. Link didn’t remember much after that; all he remembered for certain was coughing up water until his throat was raw and being teleported away from that cursed place.
The next time Link awoke, he was relieved to find out that he was in his bed, in his house, far away from Mara and her goons. He groggily turned to Zelda, who sat beside him, humming a song quietly.
“Have I ever told you that you look gorgeous when you’re dragging my dumb ass out of danger?” he asked her deliriously. Zelda’s head snapped up from her reading to gawk at Link’s statement.
“Link, you’re awake! And clearly still waking up,” she laughed as she processed what he said to her. She went downstairs for a few moments and came back with a steaming bowl of Cucco noodle soup. As Link sat up and sipped at the soup greedily, Zelda explained what happened.
“You’ve been out for quite a while, almost a whole day,” she said, sighing with relief. “When you got pulled into the river, I summoned my goddess powers to aid you… Link you were down there for so long I was sure you drowned.” She clasped her hands together tightly as she stared at the ground. “I thought I was too late.”
She didn’t need to say the word again for Link to understand what she meant.
“Hey,” Link said softly, bringing her hand to his chest to feel his still-beating heart. “I’m still here, aren’t I?” Zelda nodded, a smile returning to her face.
Link smiled back, even though the events of the previous day made him want to bawl his eyes out. He set the soup on the table, suddenly losing his appetite. “Thank you for saving my life, Zelda,” he said sincerely.
Zelda scooched closer to his bed. “Actually, someone helped me.” At Link’s confused expression, Zelda explained, “I believe it was one of the lost souls down there. Instead of the rest, who wanted you to share in their misery, they wanted you to get out. But as to why, I have no clue…”
After a moment of silence, Zelda asked, “Who did you see?” Link’s face fell. Seeing this, Zelda took back her question, sputtering, “I’m sorry, that was such an invasive question, I can go first if you like?”
Link nodded, finding no use or comfort in his voice.
Zelda sighed. “When I looked into the water, I saw Urbosa.” Link’s eyebrows raised in surprise at her answer. “She- she looked so real, like if I went closer to the water, I could have touched her,” Zelda said as she gazed out the window longingly.
Link took in a breath and said, “I saw my sister.”
Zelda’s face contorted to one of sadness. “Oh, Link, I’m so sorry.”
Link just nodded to her, not wishing to discuss it further. Zelda suddenly got up from her seat and ran down the stairs. “Where are you going?” Link asked her curiously. He heard Zelda rummaging around and mumbling to herself as she clearly was on the hunt for something. After a moment, he heard a cheer and Zelda rushed back up the stairs, holding something in her hand.
She handed two well-worn, wooden bracelets to her knight. Link teared up as he recalled the memory of him playing with Anya when they wore those exact bracelets.
“When I requested people clean up the house ruins near the Woodland stable, someone brought them to me, telling me that they suspected these belong to you,” she told Link as he inspected the bracelets carefully.
Link felt tears flow down his cheeks as he covered his face with an arm. Zelda had a nasty habit of making Link feel so many emotions, and feel safe while expressing them.
Zelda didn’t hesitate to hug him close to her once he began to sob uncontrollably.
“I’ve got you, Link, just let it all out,” she soothed him, carding her fingers through his long tangled hair. They sat there for a while as Link released all his bottled-up sadness and frustration.
Eventually, Link’s eyelids grew heavy, unbearably so. Zelda noticed this and gently pushed him back down. “Get some rest, Link,” she told him gently, getting up to go downstairs.
Link’s hand shot out to desperately grab hers. “Stay?” he pleaded quietly. Zelda smiled gently at him and climbed in next to him. He curled into her, seeking comfort. Zelda promptly wrapped her arms around him, cradling his head against her chest, again running her fingers through his blonde locks.
It didn't take long for sleep to appeal to the exhausted knight, and he allowed himself to relax into slumber knowing he was in the safe embrace of his hero.