Chapter Text
She was in one of her crying fits again.
Overly stressed out from schoolwork, Zelda lay face down in her bed, sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow. She could never cry not into her pillow, at risk of her father hearing her bawling, or one of the staff hearing and informing her father. The latter was more likely, as Rhoam was always seem to be found in his office down the stairs and on the other side of him and his daughter’s rather large house.
She knew if he knew she was crying like this, he wouldn’t offer her any grace, especially if he knew it was over something as silly as schoolwork. She should be proficient at completing her work. It should take her little time. She was, in her father’s word “well over competent” when it came to simple homework. And she fully believed him, all of her test scores were solid proof she was quite the intelligent student. She even excelled in her harder classes: including her favorite, AP Biology.
And yet here she was. On her bed, bawling her eyes out, unable to read one more word of her AP Hyrule History textbook.
She didn’t know what to do. She still had ten pages to read and take notes on to be finished with her reading assignment for the class. The students had to show their notes to the teacher tomorrow, and if Zelda broke her perfect streak of having all of her work done on time, her father would have a conniption. Especially if he found out her late work was in the class where she was learning about the very country her ancestors had founded: she and her father still bore the last name Hyrule. And although her father wasn’t actively running the country, he had hope that his daughter would one day, therefore ending the villainous rule of Ganondorf Demise and his predecessors.
Yet, the book sat unopened on the floor, right by her bed. She didn’t think she could even muster up the strength to pick it up and open to the page she needed to read next. It wasn’t that history didn’t interest her. It did, greatly. More so when it wasn’t a repeat of her family history, of course. She was very interested in all the different sorts of people that used to call Hyrule home, what technology they used, and how the small but mighty country developed over time. What truly held her back was her fear. Her fear that she absolutely had to run this whole country one day, that she had to be in charge of everything. She didn’t want to be the leader of Hyrule, she wanted to be part of it. But she knew that wasn’t what her father wanted out of her.
However, she was still just a high schooler, a mere sixteen years of age. She still had time until she had to plan her more immediate future of college and other after high school plans. Her even being eligible to rule the country was still quite a bit away.
Zelda lifted her head out of the pillow as her tears calmed. She looked to the nightstand with her wet eyes. There, on her nightstand, lay her phone. It was the latest model from Sheikah Tech. Rhoam ordered one for himself and one for his daughter when his previous phone started to get buggy. Their family could only have the best, after all. The actual phone was navy, and her case was clear, however void of anything such as photos: you could see the Sheikah Tech eye-and-teardrop logo quite clearly. Weakly, her arm reached out and she grabbed it off her nightstand.
Turning the device on, she quickly unlocked it and went to her messages. She looked at the list of contacts: her father being the most recent, then her childhood best friend, Impa, who she would normally go to while in the midst of an emotional crisis. Impa was much bolder then Zelda, from everything to how she talked and interacted with others to how she dressed. It didn’t seem like the pair should work together as well as they do, as they were such opposites. But eleven years of close friendship proved that otherwise. Impa probably knew Zelda best out of anyone alive, and she was always a comforting presence for her, even if she could be brash.
Her thumb hovered over Impa’s contact for a few seconds. She knew she wouldn’t be busy right now and would respond to her in seconds. However, she didn’t click to open their texts.
Instead, her thumb moved one contact down.
Link. A boy she had been spending an increased amount of time with recently. He was in her history class with her, and the teacher paired them up frequently. At first she found him annoying. He was quiet: too quiet: and did things in a fairly messy manner. It was impossible to make out what he had written sometimes. She hated the fact it seemed as though she always had to be paired with him on activities. He never did the reading either.
But, they found their flow. It was decided Zelda would do the writing no matter what, as her handwriting was as neat and pretty as could be, and although he didn’t do his homework, Link was an intelligent individual. He was interested in history too, particularly war history: which hyrule history is, unfortunately, abundant with. Eventually, they started hoping they would be partnered up: and they started hanging out after class when Link invited Zelda to study for a more difficult test with him. Of course, the first time they studied together, they mostly discussed the review material. However as these study sessions became more and more, so did their knowledge and understanding of each other.
Zelda found out that Link participates in many sports: cross country running, swimming, fencing, archery, horseback riding. He even rock climbed on the weekends sometimes. In the winter he snowboarded. And, although he was humble about it when telling her, he excelled in all of them. So he often was unable to complete homework. When he wasn’t at school, he was doing one of his many sports, when he wasn’t playing a sport, he was training, and at the end of the day he was truly just too tired to do any reading or work. He really only had some of the weekend free.
Zelda shared about herself as well. Her father’s wealth and active political involvement. How he had been nominated by his party the past two elections for presidency and lost to Ganondorf Demise both times. Link was aware of this, obviously, so Zelda more so told him what it was like to be the daughter of such a man. All the events she had to attend, all of the people she had to meet. All the expectations put on her. She also discussed her interest in biology, specifically botany. The first time the pair of them hung out and didn’t study, Zelda had invited him on a hike at her favorite national park, where they had protected Silent Princesses, which was her favorite flower. She knows she probably talked his ear off with useless facts about the plant. She caught a frog that day too. She told Link all about how that species specifically was being tested to see if consuming the creature had performance-enhancing effects. She joked about how Link should eat the frog and see if it improved his athletic performance at all.
They had a lot in common. They were perceived as serious by their peers, and the only reason they really were was because they were both fairly quiet and focused. They were often overworked, and didn’t have much free time. There was a lot expected out of both of them.
The two only recently began messaging. Despite that, she felt strangely close to him. She was able to open up with him in a way she couldn’t with others.
She often wondered if they were destined to be a pair. After all, something had to have compelled her to switch to her phone app, search his name and call him now.
She sniffed as the phone rang. It rang through twice, and he picked up just before the third ring.
“Hello…?”
His voice was in a low murmur, as usual. It wasn’t low as in the overtly masculine and husky sense, but low as in soft yet rich. It was warm and brought comfort, like a cup of hot tea.
“Zelda, why are you calling me?”
She sniffed one more time and wiped away any tears that may have remained on her face, like he was standing in front of her and staring.
“My apologies. I just…”
The girl took a deep breath.
“I just need someone to talk to.”