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sun-aries · 3 months

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Roots and Wings

Happy Valentines, lovelies! This is my contribution to the @zelinkcommunity's Loftwing Letters 2024!

This Skyward Sword Zelink pure marshmallow fluff for Kels! @oatmilkdrnkr! I hope you enjoy this gift and I hope your Valentines is full of love :)

Link's happy to be home.

When he steps up to the porch, he wipes his boots off the doormat. He turns the key through the lock – though sometimes he ponders why they have a lock, being the only two humans on the surface – and throws the door open. And when he's through the frame, he drops his weapons by the door.

Link hasn't been gone for long: it's only about an hour trip to Faron Woods and back. But whenever he runs an errand without Zelda, he finds himself missing her madly and gets the task done with a fair amount of impatience before hurrying home.

This morning, he's cleared out an overwhelming infestation of Deku Baba's, which the Kikwi's complained began sprouting out of nowhere. Bucha was so pleased with Link that he repaid his efforts with seeds for their garden.

Link scans the small house and calls out "Zelda?" when he can't immediately find her.

"In the garden!"

And Link smiles, because her voice calling back to him from some unknown place in the house always makes him smile for some reason or another.

So he crosses the length of their small home, wincing at the mud that he still manages to track in, and through the backdoor. And true to her word, Zelda's in the garden.

This is how he knows her, with windswept hair and sunshine on her face. She glows – and most people might say that it's from the goddess within now that they know she's Hylia reborn – but he knows better. The laughing twinkle in her eyes and the flash of her smile is all Zelda.

His face brightens when she turns her gaze up to him. She's wearing a hat with a wide brim, a Skyloftian dress with an apron, and she's covered in nearly as much dirt as he is. "Welcome home," she says, and he feels it in his chest like one of Groose's sucker punches.

This is home. She's his home.

When they're little, when his feet were rarely on the ground and feathers were perpetually stuck in his unkempt hair, he thought it was Skyloft. After all, it's where he was born; it's where the Knight Academy is and where Zelda lived.

But when Zelda was thrown off her Loftwing and disappeared in a cyclone of darkness, Link was spun off balance. He couldn't eat; he couldn't sleep – and that's a feat for the goddesses, because anyone who knows him knows the man can sleep.

It was then that he started to realize that maybe it isn't normal - how much he missed her. Maybe friends don't feel sickeningly empty when the other isn't around. Maybe they don't feel like their entire world just dropped out of the sky.

Just when he started to understand that the sky is infinite, it became impossibly small without her.

When he woke up for the first time and Zelda wasn't there, Skyloft didn't feel like home. It wasn't until he found her that he started to understand. Every time he saw her - at the top of a staircase or across a gaping chasm - he felt a little safer, a little more at ease, if only for a moment in Zelda's company.

It would fill his heart and soul with warmth and light: for weeks he could thrive off that feeling alone. In time it would burn out without Zelda's presence to reignite it and he would grieve until he saw her again.

When all was said and done, Zelda decided to stay on the surface, and Link is staying with her. Though she asked, there's no question in his heart. Link learned by then, after chasing her to every corner of the earth, that he'll go wherever she goes.

Headmaster Gaepora, Zelda's father, insisted that the Sealed Grounds is not an appropriate place to live, even if it's only to rest their head between adventures. Neither Link nor Zelda see fit to argue with him. For the few months it took to build a house, the Skyloftian's were brave and kind enough to venture to the mysterious surface.

Though many of the homes in Skyloft were built generations before them, some people - mainly Gondo and Jakamar - still know the tricks of the trade. With their instruction, the villagers built a small traditional Skyloftian home.

Link felt it's kind of like woodcarving and Zelda isn't the best at it – though, goddess, did she try – but she's the one to make the house their home. She knitted the blankets and displayed his woodcarvings, and she always sets fresh flowers on the table.

By now, it's common knowledge. He knows it; Zelda knows it; he's sure all of Skyloft does too. There is no building on the sky islands or any province on the surface where Link belongs. Home isn't with the Loftwings or the Kikwi's; it's not even with his friends.

It's always been her. Zelda is his home.

Kneeling on the grass, she waves him over and his smile remains even as he maneuvers through the plots of flowers and vegetables.

"How'd it go?" she asks.

"Good enough. Bucha was happy." Link rummages through his pouch before holding out his hand. "He gave us some seeds. They're fruits, I think."

"Oh!" she exclaims. Zelda holds out her palms and he pours the small seeds into them before she tucks them into one of her apron's pockets. "Remind me to thank him later."

Link nods as he crouches down to examine the small mounds of dirt: her newest addition to the yard. "What're you planting?"

Her easygoing smile stretches to an enthused grin and it lights up her entire face. "Some sort of flower," she says. "I can't wait to see what it looks like."

Many of the flowers and plants look and taste much different on the surface. It's been incredibly fun to try new things, and since Zelda's always been inherently curious, she's thrilled to discover all that the surface has to offer them. Even the birds are incredibly tiny, and he smiles mischievously to himself as he thinks back to the first time Groose "descended" to the surface.

Zelda eyes him suspiciously. "What're you grinning about?"

He simply shakes his head, murmurs amusedly, "Nothing," and offers her a hand. "Ready to go inside?"

Zelda pauses, thinks, and flashes him a rather devious look before placing her hand in his. He should've expected getting tugged off balance, and he topples to the ground. He rolls to his back and she's astride him a second later.

Her golden hair falls around them and her smile is like the sun, and by some miracle he manages to move his hands to her waist. His cheeks are red and so are hers, but he thinks an afternoon in the sunshine is partially to blame. But only partially.

"Not yet," she says, but Link already forgot what he asked.

Zelda drops a kiss on his nose and he takes a breath because he always does.

"I'm covered in dirt," he warns her, though he's not sure why.

"So am I."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Are you?"

Link stops, thinks, before he decidedly shakes his head. Zelda's laugh is chiming, and he can't help but lean forward.

But before he can capture her lips, her damned hat knocks his forehead. Her laugh turns into a giggle fit and he grimaces abashedly as he rubs the sore spot.

Deciding on revenge, Link's hold on her waist transforms into tickles and she yelps, nearly jumping from her skin. "Hey!" Zelda says between giggles, and he's smiling again. She's adorable. "Not fair!"

She wriggles before collapsing atop him and he relents if only so he can flip them over. When Zelda's on the ground, her hat comes off and rolls out of sight, and her hair becomes a halo around her.

Her laughing quiets down and turns instead into a serene smile. Moments before he dips his head to kiss her, Link thinks how happy he is to be home.

#aries writes #loftwing letters 2024 #zelink community #zelink #ss zelink #sksw zelink #skyward sword #skyward sword zelink #zelink fic #skyward sword link #skyward sword zelda #ss zelda #ss link #loz #legend of zelda #tloz #the legend of zelda #zelda x link

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bahbahhh · 10 months

Text

begin again

a lot of change happens in between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. let’s fill in the gaps. zelda pov | zelink | totk spoilers | rated T zelinkweek2023 | @zelinkcommunity [first] [previous]

also on ao3

chapter 6

for the prompt "in another life"

Without the Sheikah Slate, it will take them almost a month to travel all the way to Hateno Village. Zelda promises to write when Riju asks before they depart, and it inspires Zelda to request the same of Tauro when they reconnect with his team passing through Kara Kara Bazaar. He responds enthusiastically and offers to send her copies of all his findings.

“Where do you port?” Tauro unclicks his notepad from his belt.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Oh, my apologies. It’s an expression from home. I do that when I’m excited. The thought of sharing my research justfills my sails! Ha! See, there it is again.” He chuckles, and then takes a slow, calculated breath, rolling his shoulders back into place like he’s resetting something internally. “I mean to ask, where should I send it all? Where is your home?”

She hasn’t been back to Hyrule Castle since they defeated Calamity Ganon. Akkala Citadel stands hollow like a skeleton on a hill. Gerudo Town is familiar and welcoming, but her roots remain detached. She sees flashes of the various cots she’s slept on over the past two years and the familiar lost and lonely feeling begins to pour back into the space newly created with the haircut.

Zelda tries to fight it, reminding herself she’s lighter and that she deserves to be, and that explorers don’t need homes, even though Tauro’s just told her even he has one, but her voice gets trapped. She just stands there, silently choking, like there is a stone lodged in her throat.

“Hateno.” Link rescues her from herself. Saves her, again.

Zelda leaves the Gerudo Desert picturing her feet dangling over the end of a too-short cot for eternity.

—

A Rito messenger finds them just before the Dueling Peaks and delivers an update from Teba. The skies of Rito Village are finally clear. Vah Medoh rests at the bottom of Lake Totori.

“Interesting,” Zelda says after the messenger takes off back in the direction of Tabantha. Link looks at her and tilts his head. “That they decided to use the lake, you know?” When his expression doesn’t change, she continues. “It’s just, I remember reading that the Rito were once thought to be water dwelling.”

Link raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah, like the Zora.” Zelda nods. “Maybe the Rito and the Zora are connected? Who knows. The Royal Library contained records mostly to do with the Royal Family. Rito lifetimes are shorter than Hylian’s and their history is almost entirely passed down through oral tradition. I supposed I could ask Kaneli or Kass…”

“What about us? Hylians? Anything curious about our ancient ancestors?” He signs.

She feels a tug. He’s asking her for information. Wisdom. Hylia’s outstretched hands. The Zonai owl’s wide eyes. Notebooks carried like a weapon. “Not much survived from the time before the first Calamity. There was a great purging of information by the King who banished the Sheikah Technology, largely because it was all recorded bySheikah Technology. There are some clues, though, beyond what the Royal Family at the time decided to record or destroy.”

“Clues?”

“Sure. In the ancient ruins, what was passed down in secret like the Calamity Ganon tapestry. In other places, too. Like…well, here, show me the sign for ‘Hylian’, again.” Zelda nods eagerly. Link complies, framing either side of his face with his hands. He moves his hands away from his face, pointer finger and thumb gradually coming together to pinch the air several inches beyond his ears.

“Notice anything?”

Link shakes his head. Zelda repeats the sign for him and then gestures to the space between her ear and the point where her fingers meet. His face is blank. She laughs and drops her arms. So much for being a good teacher.

“Our ears. They used to be longer.”

—

“As you can see, my experiment was a complete success!” Purah squeals, spinning around twice before she loses her balance and topples over onto her desk. Link lunges forward to help her, but Symin is already there with both hands and a slightly exacerbated look.

“Perhaps you should wait until you’ve adjusted a bit more to wear the high heels, Ms. Director,” Symin pleads.

“Nonsense!” Purah bats his hands away and sets her glasses back into place on her face. “The fastest way to learn is to do. And besides, you’re just saying that to keep me short and away from your honey candies! I will find them. Mark my words.”

With the heels, Purah is taller than Zelda and almost a full head taller than Link. Any trace of adolescence is gone from her face. Snow white hair curls attractively along her jawline in a way Zelda’s shorter cut has yet to discover.

Zelda is immediately curious why Purah picked this age specifically, looking a bit older than she remembers her, but she resists the urge to fire off a dozen questions. They all pertain to technology she won’t have access to much longer. Why waste her energy stoking a dying fire?

“It’s incredible, Purah. Congratulations.” Zelda settles on praise.

“Just in the nick of time, too. SNAP! Oh, hm, I suppose I should ditch the kiddy catchphrase. Speaking of ditching, here’s the Sheikah Slate back, Linky.” Purah tosses the Slate at him. His hands hesitate until the last second before opening to catch it.

If Purah’s chucking the Slate, she must truly be ready to move on from the Sheikah Technology. Zelda glances over her shoulder, blinking furiously to ease the sting in her eyes. In the corner of the room, the Guidance Stone is dark.

Zelda clears her throat and forces herself to turn back. “Have you thought at all about what you’ll tell everyone?”

“Growth spurt?” Link grunts.

“Jealous?” Purah sticks her tongue out at Link, He laughs. She hobbles around the side of the desk, wincing every few steps, and then plops into her chair. “I told Impa and Robbie of my intentions to use the Sheikah Slate before I left Kakariko.”

“Really?” Zelda blinks. “So, no asking for forgiveness?”

“I wanted to offer them the opportunity to reverse their aging as well.”

Zelda becomes aware of her heart beating. She pictures Impa, all of twenty-five again, traveling alongside her across Hyrule. “What did they say?”

“Robbie was tempted, but he has a family he loves and he does not wish to outlive them. Impa,” Purah looks at Zelda over the top of her glasses. “said she’s lived long enough and is looking forward to, and I quote, ‘the obscurity of retirement’.” She rolls her eyes and starts sorting through the papers in front of her. Zelda deflates but her disappointment diminishes quickly. She understands the appeal, having wished for the same thing upon her return from stasis. Only she wasn’t afforded the option to resign.

And how can she forsake a duty literally in her blood?

“Think they’ll change their minds once they see you?” Link asks.

“No. Impa told me to give you the Slate once you returned so you could continue clearing the shrines. You only have Akkala and part of Central Hyrule left, right? I suppose you could stop by Robbie’s while you are up there, Linky, but they both seemed pretty confident in their answers.” Purah stands abruptly, the chair toppling over behind her. She ignores it and starts marching toward the kitchen. “Symin! Write this down: ‘Subject’s appetite remains voracious one week post re-aging.’ I suspect this will dissipate with time, but the nutritional needs following a rapid physical growth are important to document! Come Symin! Teach me how to scramble an egg. No, two eggs! I require protein!” She disappears beyond the wall and Symin follows after, shaking his head.

Zelda glances at Link. He’s looking down at the Sheikah Slate still in his hands. The map is displayed on the screen. Only a few constellations of blue remain. She half expects him to disappear in shards of light right then, but he looks up at her with those luminous stones, and just waits.

“Are you going to leave today?" Her mouth is dry.

He nods and then with his free hand, ‘I’m ready.’

He’ll make quick work of what is left. His body is strong again. She’s seen to this on the journey back, advocating for rest and hot meals, trying to model what he will need to do when she’s gone, all the while recording notes about the terrain she’ll soon cross on her own. Obscurity feels like too much of a stretch in this lifetime, but who knows, with this haircut and some travelers clothes, maybe she could aim for inconspicuousness.

“I would like to go with you…at least to Hyrule Castle, if that’s alright? To review the surviving historical archives? Please?”

He holds out his hand. The only person who is reaching for her is the one she needs to let go. She flexes her hand at her side. It’s almost time to, like sand through her fingers. And yet–

One last time, she tells herself and then she takes it.

—

The lone shrine within Hyrule Castle is conveniently located beneath the library. Link clears the shrine and starts in the direction of the passage up to the castle main. Although she wasn’t permitted to walk them herself, she knows the castle is filled with many secret pathways, including an underground one that leads all the way out to Castle Town. They were all built as a means of evacuating members of the Royal Family during a siege, but none considered the possibility the greatest threat to Hyrule could emerge from within the castle itself.

The air is damp and heavy. It smells – she thinks about Link and the cave shrine – funnier than it should. Musty and mineral and sickly sweet, like something is rotting behind the bedrock. She opens her mouth, a joke about not drinking cave water on her tongue, but parts of the cavern suddenly look too dark for her liking. She’s aware that there are things hidden under Hyrule Castle, her father told her as much a century ago when he was still entertaining her questions. And like most of the castle above, she was forbidden from going anywhere near the tunnels. The only difference was the rule wasn’t unique to her. The entrance to whatever lies beneath the castle was completely sealed off to everyone. Even the King.

Zelda turns and hurries away from the smell and the dark up into the safety of the library.

They spend most of the day there. She wants to lose herself in information, have something of value to offer back to Tauro but as she suspected, the vast majority of the texts are beyond saving. Deprived of proper preservation efforts and exposed to the elements for a century, many disintegrate in her hands. She finds a few history books in her father’s hidden study, which remained sealed and undisturbed until Link discovered it toward the end of his journey. She recognizes her father’s handwriting and surmises he was copying older texts. Perhaps a quiet duty of the King or a hobby he never shared with her? She sits in his study for a long time, reading through recorded history of the Royal Family. Ancient wars and evil Kings and legends of gods descending from massive islands in the sky. Eventually, her brain stops absorbing information and she just traces the slant of her father’s impeccable penmanship.

Link leaves her be, disappearing into the castle to hunt down and take care of any monsters that wandered back within the walls.

He isn’t back when she finally emerges. Beams of dying sunlight stretch toward her through the gaps in the ceiling. Shadows begin to fill the sanctuary of her library, so she starts chasing the light throughout the castle. She wanders the battered hallways and lets her memory fill in the broken pieces. Her family’s colors are barely distinguishable behind the grime clinging to the rugs and torn banners along the walls.

She realizes where her grief has been taking her right before she enters the Sanctum. The main entrance to her chamber collapsed during the initial siege, but there is an additional entryway here, built so the Goddess-blood princess would always have access to the Sanctum for prayer. She follows the staircase up into her room and uses furniture to scale the wall up onto the upper level so she can access the bridge.

The ceiling to her study has been blown open. Miraculously, her desk is still standing, along with a few glass vials containing remnants of century-old elixirs and dehydrated plant specimens. She drags her finger along the dust on her microscope and pushes around pages of notes. The contents have been claimed by mildew and weather and time.

Her old diary lies open. There is a phantom pit in her stomach. The bitter aftertaste of mortification. She had been helpless to stop him when he found it in her room and brought it here to flip through it.

It was the only time she heard the Calamity laugh.

She pushes it aside and starts pulling open the drawers. Quills, dried up wells of ink, and charcoal for sketching. She retrieves the handful of ancient screws and gears she hid in the back from her father. Beneath them, her secret journal. Not her private feelings and unfiltered thoughts, but her notes on the Sheikah Technology. Pages upon pages of research, theories, and data.

Of course, it’s completely intact.

“Hey,” Link speaks up from behind her. She doesn’t jump. She knew he would appear eventually. “We should make a fire. It’s getting dark. We can leave in the morning, unless you want to–”

“No, I’m good,” Zelda grabs the notebook and a few other loose documents and pushes it all into his hands. “Here. For the fire.”

He frowns at her. She pulls open her adventure pouch, fishes out her Restoration Summit proposal, folds it, and adds that to the pile, too.

“Just burn it.” She hears her father in the harshness of her tone. There is ink on her fingers.

—

Her mood continues to sour as they clear the rest of the shrines in Central Hyrule. The guardian team has been busy consolidating all the guardian parts the Gorons don’t want, so when Link returns from clearing the shrines in the Lost Woods and Hyrule Ridge, all he has to do is point and click. She’s quiet and reserved, but no one seems to notice. There is an excitement building, a collective sense of accomplishment as they near the end of the clean up. A group cheers them on when they depart from the main camp. Link leads the horses in the general direction of the road. It will either take them back to Akkala or the Great Plateau.

They board the horses at the Riverside Stable. The golden horse pushes his nose into Zelda’s shoulder and she smiles, scratching the spot behind his ears he likes. She has yet to name him, but it’s getting hard to imagine herself traveling without him. It would make obscurity impossible, inconspicuousness a challenge, but he’s a strong horse and loyal, following her command over Link’s now.

Link looks southwest. In the distance, she can see the rise of the Great Plateau on the horizon. He reaches for her hand. They are going to fast travel right into the Shrine. Into the maw of the magic that healed his broken body. Trapped his soul.

You don’t have to do this alone.

She can’t go back on her word. Not now.

“Last time,” she promises herself and reaches for his hand.

He must think she’s offering comfort, because he smiles.

—

They make camp outside the cave when it's all said and done. Tomorrow, they will fast travel to Akkala and part ways. He’ll head north to clear the rest of the shrines and meet up with the guardian team there, and she’ll reconnect with Hudson in Tarrey Town to talk through his formal proposal for the next phase of the reconstruction.

Link’s cooking one of her favorite dishes: a simple meat and rice bowl. She glares at the cooking pot and watches the water start to boil. He pulls out the ingredients, carefully drops them in, and starts absentmindedly humming a cheerful, light melody as he stirs. She’s noticed he does this whenever he cooks. They are all wordless songs she knows she’s never heard before, and yet somehow, she instantly recognizes them. Could hum along if she would only let herself.

“What’s the song?” She asks.

He looks up at her through the curtain of his bangs. In the stillness, shadows dance across his skin in the firelight and he briefly wears different versions of the same face.

Just like the songs she’s never heard, somehow, she recognizes each one.

“The song you are humming,” She fails to keep the edge out of her tone. “What is it called?”

He shrugs, sets down the spoon, and signs, ‘I hear them in my head. Sometimes when I come upon a new place, or in my dreams. I’ve asked Kass and he says he never heard any of them from his teacher.’

Zelda softens a little. She pulls her knees up into her chest and wraps her arms around them. “Kondo. The court poet’s name was Kondo. He was a Sheikah.”

Zelda waits for Link to continue, but he’s fallen silent and still. Likely to allow her a moment with the memory of her former friend. It only makes her anger swell. She hugs her legs tighter, trying to steel herself against his kindness. It will only make it harder to let him go when it’s time to. “Does Kass have any theories? About where these songs come from?”

‘He thinks I was a musician in another life. Who knows, maybe I’ll take up an instrument when this is all done.’ He takes up the spoon and resumes his stirring.

She narrows her eyes and looks up at the clouds forming overhead. Storm clouds. In the distance, a ribbon of gray scales and lightning weaves across the sky toward them. Farosh. Perhaps summoned like the clouds by Link’s innocent humming, or, more likely, completely unaware of them or Hyrule’s restoration, or the passing of time itself.

Zelda thinks about Link’s final letter. About how seeing a dragon, this dragon, is what gave him the strength to meet his destiny; restored his faith in this land and the people living in it. She wishes the sight of Farosh could do the same for her. Or perhaps the memory of Naydra swirling free over her head on Mount Lanayru, or Dinraal’s fire blazing over the Spring of Power visible from the window of her room in Tarrey Town.

But the dragons don’t bring her comfort. They don’t inspire her. All she sees are symbols. Misery like lightning. Icy blue loneliness. Fiery rage.

“You should go,” she blurts.

Link looks up at her.

“I can make my way back on my own.”

He laughs.

“I’m…I’m serious.” Zelda lowers her legs and curls her fingers into fists at her sides.

He’s not even looking at her. His attention is back on the food. He signs with one hand in her direction. ‘I’m not leaving you.’

“Why not?” Every word stings pouring from her lips, but the pain is liberating. It fuels her determination to keep going. She raises her voice, practically shouting. “You should!”

Link drops the spoon into the pot and glares at her. Finally.

“What? What’s the difference? Tomorrow, in a week, in a month? You-your–” Zelda waves her hands, trying to catch the perfect word in the air in front of her, like a firefly in the dark. She growls impatiently and continues, “you are freefrom your appointment.”

‘Appointment?’

She throws her hands up. “I have no intentions of taking the throne once Hyrule is restored, therefore, I am no longer in need of a knight.”

“I’m not a knight,” he says.

“No. You’re not.” Pain rips at her stomach, threatening to tear her wide open.

He stares at her.

“Stop looking at me! Go.”

He doesn’t move.

“Fine. Fine! I’ll go.” She rises to her feet and dusts herself off. He stands with her. Unbearable heat builds in the back of her throat. She lifts her hand to push him away and immediately notices the scar.

It’s glowing.

Zelda erupts like molten rock from Death Mountain. Like the Calamity did into the sky that day all those years ago and ten thousand years before that. Something unchecked and vengeful and ugly rises up the darkest parts of her.

If a dragon is required for him to realize what’s needed of him, then, so be it, she’ll become one.

“The Master Sword is gone. You have not worn the Champion’s tunic since Calamity Ganon’s defeat. You recommended the destruction of the only source of value I had to offer Hyrule.” She aims her finger at him and jabs. “You did that to me.” She heaves the last word at him and takes a few steps back, circling, and then gets right back in his beautiful face. “I will help rebuild Hyrule in penance for my failures, I’ll play Princess again, since it’s a title I am unable to retire from. That I can’t just put back, like a sword. I-I will commit myself to research and uncover the secrets of the past and record them better so future generations can actually know what is important, instead of wasting time…wasting time…”

Tears stream down her face and collect under her chin. “You’re free, Link. You can let me go, too.” She mimics the gesture he showed her over a year ago. Invisible sand passing through her trembling fingers. “You have to do it. I’m not powerful or courageous. I am cursed with knowing and I know this about myself. It’s the last thing I’ll ever–” Her voice hitches.”I’ll ever ask-ask of you. Please, because if you keep looking at me like this I might—I can’t do it myself. Just let me go.”

Link stands there in the aftermath of her diatribe, like one of the tattered flags in Hyrule Field that somehow survived Calamity Ganon’s attack and the lonely century that followed. He’s wearing a rare expression of shock, probably processing the completeness of his freedom now that she’s violently discharged him.

He opens his mouth and then closes it. Lifts his hands and drops them. He does this a few more times. She wants to grab him, but she has no right to reach for him now. She starts wiping her face, trying to make herself look less pathetic, less in need of rescue, so he’ll turn and go.

“I won’t do that,” Link says it out loud, but he’s signing at the same time. His hands shake with urgency as he does. He signs the same words over and over again until she stops wiping her face and counters.

“W-why not?”

Link drops his hands. His voice sinks into a whisper. She has to lean forward to catch it. “I want to be with you.”

Without the rain, she can’t tell if she’s manipulating time again. She feels like she’s suspended in the air. Like she’s trapped in stasis again. “You what?”

“I put the Master Sword back to heal it so I could protect you. I don’t wear the Champion’s Tunic because it is precious to me and I’m afraid I’ll ruin it more than I already have. I recommended we destroy the Sheikah Technology to freeyou from the past. I will not let you go. If I wanted to do that, I would have left after we first got to Kakariko. I chose to stay.” He takes a step toward her. His entire body is trembling. He palms his throat when his voice won’t come any more no matter how hard he tries to summon it. He looks her directly in the eyes, tears swimming in his own, and moves his hands slowly, clearly. ‘I choose you. Do you choose me?’

“Y…you choose me?”

He nods.

“Why-why did you say anything? Do anything? All this time, I thought–” She shakes her head in disbelief. He reaches out and grabs her hands. His current explodes across her skin until every inch of her is buzzing. He’s Farosh climbing out of the spring, a candle in the dark, the taste of magic on her tongue.

“Important things take time.” He gave her the answer months ago. “I was waiting until you were ready. Everyone is. Hyrule sees all you’ve sacrificed, all you’ve done. We all see you and we are willing to wait for you.”

Her ears are ringing. Farosh glides across the sky above their heads. She’s never known the beauty of time granted, only the agony of it passing too quickly or the suffocation when it stops completely. All she’s ever known is pressure, so governed by it, she’s created it all herself in the vacuum that was left inside her when it was taken away.

Hyrule hasn’t been trying to bury her with the Sheikah Technology. It’s been making room for her. All of her.

“Are you ready?” Link asks.

Zelda looks at him. He waits. The electricity she feels between their hands is visible for a moment across his skin, and his eyes, those luminous stones, they don’t shine. They burn.

“I am,” she says.

Link lets out a single, cathartic sob. It’s heavy with breath, like he’s been holding it in for a hundred years. Like he was actually worried she might need even more time.

He releases her hands and starts to sign something, but then stops himself. He pauses, scanning her face, and then steps into her–impossibly, extraordinarily close. He grabs her face with both hands, fingers sliding insistently into her hair under her braids, and kisses her.

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cryiling · 2 months

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Hi, crow! How are you doing? 😁

for the ship ask game: revalink (hehe), botw/totk zelink, and miphlink (i think that’s the correct ship name??)

(ask game from here)

omg hi iri!!! I'm doing well hru? imyy thank you for the ask 🥺🫶

revalink - ship

what made you ship it?

last february i was going through my zelda phase again and i was looking for fics to read. previously i had read a lot of sidlink fics so I was looking for something new, and I decided to check out revalink fics and. oh em gee. i got hooked 😭

I remember insisting I only liked it ironically but 💀 look where I am now. #1 revalink shipper oopsies 🤭 their dynamic really stood out to me, I've shipped a lot of rivals to lovers before so I guess once I started to consider it revalink just made sense to me. also revalink fics are devastatingly good, like there's a couple that I reread religiously 😫

what are your favorite things about the ship?

omg I LOVE THIS QUESTIONNN. saurr many things like. I mentioned it already but I love their dynamic, especially when you start to analyze it beyond the surface level. I love headcanons about why revali lashes out at link in the first place, especially in relation to the champion's ballad dlc and how revali's diary reveals that he's just really insecure about himself. I think they're such good character foils to each other and that makes their interactions, both as rivals and as lovers, so much richer than some of the other ships in the game. their relationship is so open to interpretation and that makes it one of the most satisfying ships to make content for SHFJDBF

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

hmm not that I can think of! i post a lot of headcanons and stuff but I don't think they've ever been unpopular, maybe just unique. like my all the president's men au 💀 i still think abt that sometimes LOL

botw/totk zelink - don't ship

why don't you ship it?

aghhh ok ok hear me out. i don't ship them romantically BUT i do think they are peak queerplatonic vibes. it's just, the idea of knight x princess already feels like a weird dynamic to me, like I'm not a huge fan idk? ughh idk how to explain it. to me I've always preferred them to have more of a sibling dynamic. urgh I know I said hear me out but I'm not explaining it well. the voices told me not to ship it idk

what would have made you like it?

ok tbh I think zelink is cute in like every other game! just not these two 😭 so I guess if you put the two characters in literally any other game I would like them? aghhhh idk what it is about this one that makes me not want to ship it!! maybe in this game if they had a different backstory I would have shipped it. but tee bee ache link was so unhappy as a knight that I'm rooting for him to leave the whole royalty system behind and go live in the woods with his bird boyfriend idk 😭

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I literally think zelink makes the most sense as a ship, they're soulmates and they would go to the ends of the earth for each other, I'm sorry I feel so bad for not shipping them 😭 BUT on the other hand, I think all that can be true without having to be romantic yk? that's why I think they're a really good queerplatonic couple, they understand each other like no one else could, they always look out for each other and they can't imagine not being in the other's life. it's just not romantic. aughh I think they have such a good relationship but just not romantically 😣 maybe it's bc I'm also aspec

miphlink - don't ship

why don't you ship it?

I feel really bad but like mipha's crush was so clearly one-sided 😭 it's weird bc my absolute favorite trope is childhood friends to lovers, and they check the childhood friends box, but the ship just feels too vanilla/basic to me. I do think they're besties tho, because since they grew up together they'll be super close and know each other very well. but imo link doesn't see her like that and mipha eventually moves on

what would have made you like it?

I think a.) mipha's character should have been fleshed out more because she felt so one-dimensional and it kind of bothered me, her character had so much more potential and I love seeing fanon version of her where she actually has a personality. and b.) if there was a little more pining on both link's and mipha's parts. the best part of childhood friends to lovers is the pining!!

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I love mipha and I love link and I think they'll always look out for each other and be besties forever!! the end 😽

#ask game #revalink #zelink #miphlink #botw #totk #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #the legend of zelda #tloz #me being So Normal about this game #aaaa thank u for the ask iri!!! I love talking abt this game 🤭

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silentprincess17 · 1 year

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One word prompt- Feather with Ocarina of time Zelink 👀. Also CONGRATS ON 350!!!!

Hi Ace! Thank you so much! :)

So, your prompt is chapter 2 of my OoT fic: A Map of Memories!

Summary: A Masquerade balls hides more facades than just those covered with a mask. Child time fic continued with now Adult!Link and Zelda :) Read Chapter 1 on AO3 | Tumblr AO3 Link:

A Secret Hidden in Plain Sight

Smoky fumes coloured the ceiling of the ballroom, burnt amber lighting from torches on the walls below illuminating the shadows. They allowed Zelda to catch glimmers of jewels, and reflections of satin fabric worn by the occupants.

Her emerald mask, decorated with the feathers of the Kokiri and emeralds of the Goron, stretched across her cheeks, curving down on one side of her more heavily than the other, her eyes lined with kohl and golden shimmer eyeshadow. Gold velvet gloves covered her hands, extending to her elbows, with one hand extended along the staircase decorated with flower strands. The other hand folded shut a cherry blossom fan gifted to her by Ruto, slipping it into the secret waist band she’d kept from her childhood…

Even if the reason why she’d started to use said secret pocket was no longer with her.

Swallowing, she moved from the final step, her golden heels echoing across the floor, delightfully anonymous, with the small trial of her dress following. The dress itself was emerald in colour, the bodice formed from a corset, with gold trim and embroidered foliage detail, flaring out at her hips, the details continuing in lazy swirls down to the end.

After all, a princess in disguise still had to dress to a standard worthy of one.

A waiter circulating with wine reached her, and she lifted the flute to her lips, knowing she’d need the alcohol to get through another, seemingly endless, night. Was it too soon to escape to the balcony? Probably.

The feathers tickled her forehead and it made her smile. That had been such a fun adventure. She’d never climbed up roots from trees before. Or crawled through crevices of land. And then –

She downed the rest of the glass.

Twelve years had passed and she still thought of him. Hell, she had even dressed in his colours, wearing the last set of feathers they’d collected together, before his gaze set on the Lost Woods and in the hope of seeing him, one more time, she’d given him the Ocarina.

Why? Twelve years later and she still held to the same wishful hope that he’d reappear? He’d show up again? He’d-

“Mademoiselle, you look delightful tonight.”

Here we go again.

“Why thank you.” Now she had no excuse, her glass was empty and so there would be no escape. “You look-” It was a concoction of lilac frills and yellow lace, toppled with an atrocious lime green hat. It was disgusting. “...Floral.” Is what she settled on in the end.

“Of course! That’s the pinnacle of fashion, my mademoiselle. Can I have this next dance?”

Firstly, she wasn’t his. Secondly, it was may, but idiots never bothered to learn the language. Sighing, she agreed. It was necessary for the charade after all.

She winced for the first, but certainly not the last time that evening when his hands annoyingly found her waist to begin the dance.

“Mademoiselle, you are very beautiful and gracious indeed. Isn’t it a shame the Princess has effectively obliterated our social calendar? We have been denied the chance of meeting sooner!”

Zelda had to fight not to roll her eyes. Then again maybe she could and in the dark the fool wouldn’t see. “Surely, Monsieur, you realise such an adjustment had to be made for the greater good of the People?”

It was a miracle that she’d managed to cut down on so many of these stupid, idiotic parties for the nobles, limiting it to one every season. She’d reinvested the money saved into an emergency fund, helping those affected with poverty and starvation. Obviously, the rich had never faced these problems. But Zelda had. Oh, Zelda had seen what Hyrule could have been, in fact, what Hyrule was in a timeline just next to theirs. Reality could have flipped and she was not going to squander the blessings the other Princess Zelda and her Link had fought for.

“Oh… yes. Indeed. I’m sure the Gerudo are very thankful.”

Zelda bristled, angrily twisting out of his hold, and watching him splutter across the dance floor trying to keep up. Yes, she was the one who had broken the boundaries with the Gerudo, offering aid and support, but the olive branch she’d extended hadn’t only benefited them alone! “Again, Monsieur, I have good intel that suggests the trade has proved fruitful for as many Hylian merchants as it has for the Gerudo people. We should never take excessive advantage of the resources we happen to have and use it as leverage against those who do not. And would you rather”- she turned aggressively to the right- “we risk war or we live in peace and prosperity?”

He gulped like a fish in response, flailing to keep up.

She wasn’t a fool. Her trade deal had ensured the Gerudo wouldn’t cross the provider of the sole source of reliable food income, and even if they developed ideas of invasion, she had Sheikah hidden in and amongst them.

Regardless, her council was based on the Sages of Hyrule. She had representatives from each land join, each land present their problems and together, cumulatively work together to find solutions. She had sourced resources, education, health and defence treaties from all the races within Hyrule, unifying them as a nation and as a stronghold in the wider world.

Hyrule was a protected sanctuary of countries, of flourishing cultures, of people living good, lawful, peaceful lives and it would remain that way under Zelda’s control.

Hyrule was thriving, Hyrule was healing and yet…

The music swelled and he was going to dip her in a false show of control- no - he was not, she swirled them around instead, his feet toppling over, and she set him right at the end.

She didn’t give him a moment to recover, the monsieur had vexed her enough for a night, and she stepped away into the shadows, feet carrying her to the security of the balcony.

She deserved a break.

Her finger clung to a segment of lace on the dress, and she was reminded of the reason behind her personal misery.

She’d never managed to tell Link why she had wanted to go on the trip. Why she’d brought her harp. Why she’d shaken at each and every location, hiding it from him after that first time she couldn’t control the memories by the fountain.

She remembered it all, she knew of it all, and he’d just left before she could do anything about it. Before she could prove she truly was his friend, his companion as Sheik, and his… Princess. Why hadn’t he given her a chance to explain? A chance to remedy her wrongs?

Angrily, she brushed the tears that stormed their way through the mask. She shouldn’t have worn his colours. Why did she torment herself so? It only dredged up regret and betrayal.

Clang!

The door to her balcony, hidden behind the alcove on the thirteenth step up on the right side of the twin staircases that curved around the room that no one else knew of, shuddered.

She turned around, startled. A metal linked chain suddenly sprang from the small knob under the archway for the door, forming a zip line strung tight under tension.

Her kodachis were out the next second and she flipped back to face the intruder, lunging with both knives clasped at a cross cross, his neck caught in between.

A man with white hair and startling turquoise eyes glared at her, unblinking, with his hand strained taunt from holding the hookshot.

Where had he even gotten ahold of one?! Those were only in the chest of -

No.

It couldn’t be.

Her eyes narrowed, as the mystery man swallowed, his throat pressing against her blades. A quick scan over him revealed he had blue hoops in his ears. That-

No!

“Who are you and what do you want?”

He swallowed again, his trachea touching the blades. “Isn’t it a masquerade ball tonight?”

“To those with an invitation, yes. That typically involves presenting said invitation to the doormen, by the central entrance.”

“Well I’m not a typical man.” Was- no. No. No, she wouldn’t be so foolish.

She pressed closer, and he winced. “And I’m not a typical woman. Tell me the truth. Who are you, and what do you want?”

His fingers reached to loop around her curled hair, before tracing up to her mask. “You… are just as she was.”

Her stomach flipped, her hands shaking for the first time since Impa taught her how to use the blades, inadvertently causing a cut. Blood blossomed, as he smiled and she wrenched backwards. “No.”

“Yes.” He finally pulled himself up the ledge, stowing his hookshot away, a smile growing on his face.

Her voice cracked. “Why?”

He stepped closer, removing his mask and morphing into the Link she knew, and she stepped back, daggers clattering to the floor.

She couldn’t allow herself to believe it.

No it was just a mirage.

He was just a mirage.

A –

His hand clasped her face, real, warm, and course, tears in his eyes matching hers. “I’m sorry, Zelda. I’m so sorry for not coming back sooner.”

She leant into his palm, before realising it wasn’t enough, it wouldn’t ever be enough Goddesses, it’d been so long – she reached over him, wrapped both arms around him tight, her mask tumbling to the floor.

Nothing else in the world mattered in that moment. They sank to the cold concrete, a pool of emerald lace, forest green feathers, and chain mail.

For her Link had finally returned. He’d finally come back home.

#zelink #zelink fanfic #zelink fanfiction #ocarina of time #oot #oot zelink #oot link #oot zelda #botw #breath of the wild #loz #legend of zelda #silent writes #a secret hidden in plain sight #a map of memories

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sparrowsworkshop · 1 year

Text

“Out of Tune” by OneWingedSparrow for Zelzenik

@zelzenik Happy Valentine’s Day, here’s your Loftwing Letter!!! I hope the angst is satisfactory 😉 Written for the @zelinkcommunity Loftwing Letters event! 💖 (Hey, listen! Go follow that blog so you can read the other lovely LL fics and see the amazing LL art that everyone gifted to each other this year!) Fic Summary: The Hero of Time has passed from this world, leaving behind his wife and children. Zelda slowly begins to realize how closely her love for music and her love for Link were intertwined. Main Tags: Angst and Feels, Married Zelink, Major Character Death, Post-OoT and Post-MM, Grief, Mourning, Music

Read on AO3

Reblogs are appreciated! ~ The Goddess Harp was a sacred artifact, passed down through the royal family since the beginning of the ages. Such a treasure oughtn’t to fall out of tune. Yet, each time Zelda plucked the golden strings, the melody felt off. More and more, as she coaxed the Bolero out, the beautiful voice of the harp turned grating and unpleasant, a singer’s aria lapsing into a lamenter’s wail. Her fingers hesitated. The last notes died out, leaving a foul sound in the air. “It doesn’t sound quite right,” her eldest commented in the matter-of-fact manner of a boy not quite eleven. “I agree,” the queen said softly. “What do you suppose should be done, Daru?”

He shook his head in pity; his hair flew about. It was too long...too thick...too curly to compare. But the color was the same, and, underneath the green cap his father had given him...his hair made him altogether reminiscent of another boy she had known, once upon a time. “Hard to say,” their son said, dark brows furrowing quite seriously. “I could reset the strings. Shall I, Mother?” Reset. Do over. The way you are supposed to be…. “Please,” Zelda said, and handed him the harp. Steadfast in determination, Darunia gave his all; but after three days of work, his efforts proved to be in vain. * * * A breeze blew through the courtyard, ruffling the hedges. Pale sunlight crept across the stepstones. Ever stubborn, Impa bent over the flowerbed—refusing to let the work pass to younger backs. Seated nearby, Zelda watched her. The harp rested across her lap, untouched. “You don’t play as often as you used to,” Impa said. Her strong voice was weathered now, as wrinkled as her fingers. She dug through the soil, ripping up roots that had long since withered. The queen forced a smile, as thin and weary as she felt. “I suppose I no longer have it in me.” Her guardian paused to shake a trowel at her. “You always had it in you,” Impa countered with confidence. “You were singing since the day you were steady enough on your feet to skip around the flower garden. Music is a part of your soul, and not so easily lost. You will find it again.” But it was easily lost, Zelda thought. That part of my soul was lost along with him. * * * The Goddess Harp twanged a series of scattered, broken notes, as true to the desired piece as a burst of hiccups filling in for a sonnet. “How did it go, again?” Zelda whispered. The castle had long since fallen asleep, the halls empty save for the guards. They stood dutifully at attention, watchful keepers of the night. Since they had to stay awake anyway, she figured they wouldn’t mind hearing her practice. She gazed out the window, towards the full moon, though her tears made the light rather blurry. You’ve played this song a hundred times. You ought to know this, deep down. When she’d learned to play the harp as a child, the process had been slow-going, but rewarding. Relearning this art was another matter. Trying to convince herself of past, proven capability was somehow more awkward than believing she could do it the first time. Why is it so hard…? Months. It’d been months since one of the Hylian Captains had bowed before her, face to the ground, his voice choked up as he delivered the dreadful report. Months since she’d first held her children as they wailed, mourning over time forever lost, over the thrilling bedtime stories that their father would never finish. Months since she’d buried her husband beneath one of the trees he loved most, to sleep under a shroud of fallen leaves as red as blood. Try to remember, she cried to herself. One of the strings snapped. Zelda winced, instinctively placing her stinging finger in her mouth. The loud noise alerted the guards. Heads turned. Chainmail shifted. When they saw nothing amiss, they returned to their rigid postures. None of them marched over to see if she was okay. Forgivable. Had they asked so, she wouldn’t have been able to answer in truth. * * * On the first year anniversary, her youngest attempted to cheer her up. “For you, Mama!" her daughter exclaimed. She raised her pan flute, and played her very best. What she lacked in skill, she made up in enthusiasm, and every mistaken note was corrected with a jovial, improvised trill. Even so, the merry tune was bittersweet to Zelda’s ears. The timbre of the pipes was so close to that of the ocarina...but not close enough. A familiar voice could bear similarities, yet still be too distinct from the predecessor to bring peace to the heart. The queen blinked to force back the tears. “Beautiful, Aryll. Thank you.” Their daughter gave a dramatic bow, pigtails bobbing. * * * Winter was coming; the wind chill was strong. Zelda knelt under the maple tree. Her hair had snagged several brown, crusty leaves, forgotten remnants of brighter days. If her nose hadn't been stuffed, she might have smelled the richness of the earth, as low to the ground as she was bowing. The harp had been left at home...dropped on the empty half of the bed. Aryll was not here to accompany; Darunia not present to offer critique of his highly musical ear. The obligatory knight escort stood off at a fair distance. Zelda felt free to confess. “I’ve forgotten,” she wept over the roots below. “I’m...sorry.” I messed up in that measure. Sorry, Link. Did I throw you off? It’s okay, Zelda. If it happens again, I’ll cover that up with some harmony. Want to take it from the top? Reset. Do over. Oh, what she would give. Could she have held him back from that ill-fated mission? Prevented his death, if she’d known? I can’t play without you, she wanted to scream. I need you. Instead, her throat failed her. The whimper...almost sounded like a song.

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