#zelink week 2022 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

telemna-hyelle · 2 years

Text

The Ways to Heal a Heart (Zelink week Day seven: Healing)

...so. I finally finished this. We're wrapping up with Twilight Princess Zelink!

I hope it was worth the wait <3

..........................

Link first appeared in her office just over a month after Ganondorf's defeat, an ache in his eyes and a restlessness in his feet.

Zelda knew why.

She, too, was feeling the absence of a dear friend, though she guessed the pain she felt at the loss of Midna was nothing compared to what Link felt at the shattering of the bond between hero and companion... and, Zelda sometimes wondered, quite possibly something more.

"Ordon... is home." He'd said, slowly, haltingly, trying to explain as much as his heart would allow, "But Hyrule is too, now. And I know the Twilight invasion left a lot of damage."

He scuffed a foot on Zelda's carpet. "I guess... I feel responsible somehow. I want... I need to do something. Is there someplace that needs help?" He rubbed the back of his neck and sent her a tentative look. "I thought if anyone would know, it'd be you, Princess."

Zelda didn't point out that the proper way to address her was your highness, and neither did she admit that she knew the unspoken reason Link was coming to her. He needed something to do, to distract him from the bleeding wound that Midna had torn in his life.

Instead, she pulled out a letter she had received several days before and said, "The mountains to the north of Kakariko have been reporting a higher population of monsters. My guess is that they've been congregating as they flee, banding together for safety in numbers."

She handed him the letter, smiling kindly. "I think a hero's help would be very much appreciated."

Link took the letter, looked at it for a moment, and then looked up, sending Zelda a grateful smile before hastily bowing and charging out the door.

Zelda was left sitting alone in her office, a twinge of unease flickering through her.

She had not liked the way her heart had reacted to that smile.

•◇•◇•◇•

Link was good at what he does, so the distraction of the bokoblins in the mountains lasted little longer than a week. Then he was back in her office, hoping for a new task. Zelda smiled, and sent him to take on an lizalfos infestation in Zora's domain, trying to ignore the feeling his grateful smile stirred in her heart again.

Then that was done, and she sent him to help rebuild homes near the borders of Faron Woods. That kept him a bit longer, but after a month and a little more he was back at her office again.

This continued for over a year, and Zelda began to notice several distressing patterns.

First of all, the average amount of time Link spent on each of his missions was impressively shorter than it had been a year ago. This Zelda assumed, was the natural result of the constant whetting of his skills and stamina, indicative of his growing prowess as a hero. Of course, normally Zelda would consider a positive thing, except for the fact that she was rapidly running out of missions to send him on consistently.

There was also the fact that he started showing up hurt. At first it was simple things. A still healing cut on his forehead, a bandage on his arm, a bruise on his cheek. But proportionally to the decrease of time spent on missions, the amount of injuries (and their severity) seemed to increase. Zelda found herself very distressed by this. Link seemed to notice this stress, and began taking great pains to hide his more severe injuries in an attempt to spare her stress.

This, unfortunately, had the opposite of the intended effect, and increased it instead.

Zelda felt as if she was spiraling, dragged down a whirlpool of constant worry by her foolish heart, which had decided to latch itself onto the hero.

Zelda sighed, leaning forward from where she sat at her desk, closing her eyes and rubbing at her throbbing temples.

Poems might sing the praises of such a state, but in Zelda's experience, love brought nothing more exhilarating than a headache.

Though, she thought ruefully, that might have been solely due to her choice of men happening to be a reckless idiot... who was in love with someone else.

She chuckled, and it tasted bitter on her tongue.

So much for being the personification of Wisdom.

She forcefully sucked in a sharp breath, shook her head once to dispel the thoughts dripping of guilt and pain, and stood up from her desk.

What she needed right now was a cup of tea, a warm fire, and a good book.

•◇•◇•◇•

She had scarely pulled the blanket over her shoulders and settled into her favorite chair when the knock came at the door of her study.

Zelda paused, cup of tea halfway to her lips, and let out a sigh.

A Queen's work was never done.

She set the cup of tea down on the sideboard and went to the door, pulling on her business face before she opened it.

There was a servant on the other side, viciously twisting her apron as she waited. The instant the door was open her face showed a distressing mixture of relief and worry, and she burst out, "Oh, your majesty! You have to come quickly!"

Zelda blinked, some premonition of concern clutching at her heart. "What's wrong?"

"It's the hero--you have to come to the infirmary right away!"

For a moment, the world went silent, and all Zelda could think was I knew this would happen.

But as it often seemed, being right brought her no comfort.

•◇•◇•◇•

She didn't remember running through her castle, but she did remember burrsting through the door of the infirmary, her chest tight with dual vise of panic and breathlessness.

The doctor was bent over the bed, and she could see a figure there, partialy obscured behind the man tending him. What was all too clear was the bowls full of water, stained redder than wine, and the piles of filthly cloths on the side table, equally crimson.

There was a burning building behind her eyes, but she could not succumb to it, not now.

The doctor's head turned at the sound of the door, and at the sight of Zelda, he smiled.

"He's asleep, now, but he should wake soon."

Zelda stared, her head feeling light, taking a few steps into the room, feeling as shaky as a newborn foal trying to stand. "Then, the hero--"

"Will be just fine." He said, his voice calm and reassuring. "He responded well to the potion, despite the amount of blood he lost, and should be right as rain in the morning. He expended a lot of energy getting here, however, so he'll need a bit of rest."

He bowed, and moved past Zelda to the door. He paused in the doorway, adjusted his spectacles, and sent Zelda a warm, reassuring glance. "I'll leave you two alone now, your majesty."

•◇•◇•◇•

It was hours before Link woke up, hours in which Zelda sat in the chair by his bedside, thoughts whirling through her head with the speed of his boomerang. In that time she had come to a resolution.

It was late in the evening, the melancholy orange-gold of twilight coloring the windowpanes, when Link finally stirred, his eyes fluttering open and his fingers reflexively squeezing on Zelda's hand.

He blinked several times, seemed to focus in on Zelda, and smiled. "Hello, princess."

She could have pointed out that she was Queen, now, but she didn't. Instead she pulled her hand away from his and folded it primly on her lap.

A faint look of dismay seemed to cross Link's face, though he shoved it away rather swiftly, replacing it with another smile as he sat up, leaning agains the pillows. Zelda wondered if he sensed the discussion she was about to begin, but she would not be dissuaded. It had to be said.

"This cannot go on, Link," she said, pleased with her tone--firm, yet gentle, and fully disguising the aching tremble that lurked threateningly in her throat.

Link blinked, his smile faltering. He swallowed hard, and nodded, turning his head to one side. "I--I thought it would have to end. Someday."

Zelda let out a little sigh of relief, glad that he was open to seeing reason, despite the fact of what it might mean.

"I am sorry," she said, unable to resist the urge to reach out and lay a hand on his. "I know this must be very difficult for you."

He sent a swift glance down at her hand, and shrugged stiffly. "I'll be all right, I always am. I'll manage somehow."

Zelda's heart ached, so she squeezed his hand a little to add emphasis to what she had to say. " 'Managing, somehow' is how you got into this situation, Link. Don't you know that you don't have to push through this alone?"

There was a moment of silence.

Link looked at her, then down at their hands, and then at her again. "...what?"

Zelda's temple throbbed a bit. Was he trying to throw her off? She wouldn't let him, however! She was his friend and she refused to stand by and watch him get himself killed.

She straightened her shoulders, steeling herself for what she had to say next. "I know that losing Midna still pains you, but there are healthier ways to deal with that than throwing yourself into misison after mission so recklessly."

Link stared at her.

She swallowed hard, glacing to one side, and forced herself to draw her hand away. "I know you still love her, and I'm sorry I can't do anything to help, but I won't stand by and let you put yourself in so much danger so you don't have to think--"

Link's hand grabbed hers, and her sentence died in her throat as she snapped her head back to look at him.

He was still staring at her, thoughts and emotions flashing across his eyes so swiftly that she could not decipher them.

"Is that what you think I've been doing?"

The sensation of having no idea what to say was a very foreign state for Zelda, and she floundered. "I--um--yes?"

He squeezed her hand a little tighter. "That's not what's been going on."

Zelda's brain was dragging itself sluggishly along, like a chu shlorping across the ground. "But, but Midna--"

Link flushed a little, looking to one side and sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "It's true that's part of why I ask for the missions at the beginning, but--but I got over her loss a while ago."

Zelda stared. "Then why have you been hurrying through the missions lately? You have to know it keeps causing you to get hurt!"

Link's face turned redder.

"I. Well. Uh. The--the faster I finished the missions, the sooner I could see you again?"

Zelda's brain sloughed to a stop. The chu stopped shlorping across the ground. "Me?"

Her voice was breathless. Link swallowed, his words coming faster, tripping, stumbling over each other, rushing headlong like Epona at a gallop.

"It took me a while, y'know, to--to come to terms with what happened, and, and figure out what I felt about Midna, but after a while I started to notice how," his gaze darted to Zelda's face and flew away again, his ears now scarlet as red poiton, "how hard you worked, and how much you loved your people and--how pretty you were."

As fast as the words were spewing from Link's mouth, Zelda's heart was beating even faster.

The orange-golden glow of the windowpanes no longer seemed melancholy. Zelda thought it was the most beautiful color in the world.

Link gulped hard. "And I thought the more missions I went on, the better help I'd be for you and... and I'd see you more often. So. That. That's why."

He sucked in a breath, gulping air like a diver come to the surface, and finally looked at Zelda again.

Zelda was sitting there, still as a statue, eyes wide with shock. The only indication of emotion was the faint rosy pink crawling across her cheeks.

Link swallowed again, and loosened his grip on her hand, with the air of a man who wondered if he'd ever get to touch her again.

Zelda's brain suddenly sprung to life, ad before Link could fully pull his hand away, she caught hold of his fingers.

Link stared at her, and Zelda felt a smile slip onto her face, as bright as the dawn. "You don't have to have an excuse to visit me. You can come whenever you want," She glanced down at their joined hands, feeling her cheeks warming. "...I'd love that very much."

She glanced back up, just in time to see a grin spread across Link's face, wide and incandescantly happy. "I think I'd like that very much, Princess."

And Zelda laughed, glad at the way her heart rejoiced at the sight of that smile.

#zelink week 2022 #zelink #tp zelink #loz twilight princess #healing #tellie writes stuff #my fanfics

95 notes · View notes