#I mean he had other things but I can’t share them for spoiler reasons 🫣

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 19, flower bouquet

This might be psychological too but I honestly didn’t know what the prompt meant when it said that. Kind of broad you know? Anyways TCOD TIME! This is before the first arc of the story of course, a short but more wholesome one. Kinda. I love Maria (Link’s grandma)

I haven’t updated it in a while but you can read what I have so far at @thecurseofdemisecomic :) I could use the support

Warnings: mentions of family death.

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It was a hard day for Maria, as it always was every year. Every morning she would wake up and get started with her day, tending to her cows, tending to her gardens, and making sure her grandchildren got their chores finished. But this morning was different, it was the only day when Maria didn’t worry about being so strict with the chores. She still did them of course, but she was more lenient about it with her grandkids, since today was the anniversary of when she lost a son and a daughter-in-law.

The memory still haunted her. She was training Linkle on how to use her crossbow since she was so insistent on learning, wanting nothing more than to follow her grandmother in her footsteps, when she heard San curse under his breath. She remembered when she looked to see what was wrong, she saw her oldest son, Taril, laying on the ground with Link and Aryll crying. She and San did everything for him, trying to keep him alive, trying to get a doctor to their small secluded farm. But with the doctors overwhelmed due to a large scale monster attack, no one came, and Taril succumbed to his injuries. Monna, his wife, wasn’t with him, and Maria soon discovered that she died trying to buy Link and Taril time to get away. Thankfully, Link and Aryll were fine, but the children were scarred from such a traumatic event.

Maria thought that losing her husband was hard. Having him say goodbye to her and her sons and then never returning, having to raise her boys when they were still teenagers on her own despite not being the primary caretaker for them, having to retire early from the army just so she can be with her sons, it was hard. And the pain of losing her husband returned when she lost her own boy, but it was almost unbearable. She should’ve been the one to go, she should’ve been the one to have lost her life. She was growing old, she didn’t need to live the limited time she had left. Taril and Monna had young children, the youngest barely being a year old. They had so much to live for. And knowing what they could’ve had was painful to bear. No parent should ever have to bury her child, but it was something she had to do. She only wished that she could’ve buried Monna as well, so she and Taril could be together physically, even in death.

Maria didn’t have a strong relationship with her grandchildren, save for Linkle who idolized her, but she had to become the caretaker for the kids who lost their parents, and she had to break through the wall that was between her and Link.

Link had watched his father die right in front of him, he had heard his mother’s cries as she was murdered by Lizalfos, so getting through to him was a challenge for Maria. San had tried, but he was never particularly good with children. Linkle had tried, and she was much more successful than Maria and San, but she herself was still recovering from losing her parents as well. It wasn’t fair to put such a weight on her young shoulders. As time went on, Maria grew to understand Link more, and the family grew closer than ever, but she still felt herself more distant from Link than with Linkle.

Slowly over time, the wounds healed, and though they scarred, they didn’t hurt as much as they used to. A couple of days after Link and Linkle’s sixteenth birthday, the hardest day of their lives came by, and it was quiet on the farm as Maria slowly tended to the animals, ignoring the dull pain in her heart over the loss of her son and daughter-in-law. When she went to return to her house however, she saw someone by the graves that honored Taril and Monna’s life. It was Link, and he was standing there silently with a bouquet in his hands. Maria walked up to him, curious at what he was doing alone, and stared at the tombstones.

“Hi grandma,” Link said quietly, clutching the bouquet of flowers tighter.

“Hello my dear, how have you been this fine morning?”

Link looked at her and forced a smile. “I’ve been good.” Maria tilted her head and Link’s smile disappeared. “I… I suppose I’ve been better.”

Maria smiled slightly and wrapped her arm around him, giving him a side hug. Link leaned into the hug and rested his head on her shoulder.

“I miss them,” he whimpered, his voice wavering uncontrollably as he tried not to cry. Maria only closed her eyes and hugged him tighter.

“I miss them too, my dear.”

“I wonder if they’re proud of me. I—I’ve been trying to take care of Aryll and Linkle, and Epona too of course but… I wonder if they think I’ve been doing a good job.”

“Oh sweetheart,” Maria ran her hands through his strawberry-blonde hair, twirling the ends around her finger. “You’ve been doing a wonderful job. Aryll loves you so much, you’re a wonderful brother to her. And you and Linkle are best friends, I can’t ever seem to separate you two.” Maria chuckled as Link giggled slightly, and she playfully ruffled his hair. “And you treat that horse with the utmost respect and care I have ever seen. I’m sure your parents would be very proud of you.”

Link’s smile stayed as he stared at the tombstones, his head never leaving her shoulder.

“I’ve been thinking,” he started, pursing his lips, “I want to rebuild dad’s old horse farm, and raise horses just like he did.”

Maria raised her eyebrows, surprised that he told her such a thing. He normally confided in Linkle about his future and hopes and dreams. For him to share this with Maria, it was an honor to her.

“Why, I think that’s a wonderful path to take, my dear. You share your father’s love for horses, that’s for sure.”

“…yeah,” Link smiled fondly at the tombstones, but his grip on the bouquet tightened, and he bit his lip as tears started to pour out of his eyes. Maria didn’t say anything when he let out a sob, she just held him, trying not to cry herself. After a moment of Link crying silently, she nudged him forward.

“Let’s put the flowers down, shall we?”

Link nodded and he and Maria walked closer to the tombstones, setting the bouquet down next to one other, belonging to Linkle and Aryll she presumed. Maria stood up when the flowers were put down, but Link lingered, tracing his fingers along the words on the tombstone. Finally, he stood back up as well and walked over to Maria, his eyes puffy, his cheeks rosy, and his nose runny. Maria gave him a smile and cupped his cheeks, kissing him on the forehead. Link leaned into her, and Maria pulled him into a hug. The two stood there for a while holding each other, the only sound was Link’s silent cries and whimpering. Maria could feel her shoulder growing damp from his tears, but she didn’t care. She rubbed circles in Link’s back, and she even shed a few tears as well. After a long moment of crying, Maria pulled away, but still kept an arm around his shoulder.

“Let’s go back to the house alright? I can make you and your sisters a little treat. How does that sound?”

Link sniffed and smiled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “Ok…” he muttered, and the two walked away from the graves back to the house. Yes it was a hard day for the family, a harsh reminder of what had happened. But the closer Maria felt to her grandchildren, the easier the day became. She may have lost her children, but she had her grandchildren, and she thanked the goddesses for that blessing.