Melted

And after a while, you understand

Loran munched thrice on one side and thrice on the other before swallowing her food. She was so focused on her hands that it wasn't until a fellow knight sat in front of her that she raised her head.

"Loran! Long time no see!"

Loran gave the man a glance and went back to her food.

The man squirmed on his seat, snickered to himself, "Fancy seeing you here again, huh? Are you done with Robert's errand?"

Loran glanced back at him and downed some of her juice, "I'm here, am I not?"

The man cocked his head, shot his eyebrows up and tried to look back to his table without being too obvious. "Then The Hero is back, right?" Loran munched her bread. "You see, people were able to see the Princess now and everyone is having some weird ideas-"

"Like him having a chance with Her Majesty?"

The man let out a surprised laugh, hit the table once, "Like that, yes!"

Loran cut her meat, "So I gather you haven't heard of him being given the go to court her?"

The man froze and then gave a tiny smile, "That's a good one, Loran, you almost got m-"

"Come on, I wonder why else you came to talk to me. You got your gossip now, go spread it to your friends."

The man got closer to Loran, his chest almost touching the table, "Loran it's not funny."

Loran sighed, made a face to show she didn't care what he thought, "When have I ever lied?"

The man shook his head in disbelief, "They are not that desperate to appease the townsfolk, are they?"

Loran concentrated again on her food, "Maybe it's love."

The man snorted and got up, he pointed to Loran with a smile, "That's a good one, too."

⁂⁂⁂

Link found Zelda with her head on her hands, the candle at her feet, and without any trace of humor in her. The only thing he thought of doing was to sit near her and remain silent.

"Rutela is dead..." Zelda whispered.

Link frowned, as if that information was too obvious to begin with. Link cocked his head and stopped dead in his tracks.

It just...

It was so easy to forget people hadn't seen, or heard, or lived like him.

Zelda had been locked up for his whole journey, and from the pain in her voice... "Did the Council not tell you?"

Zelda closed her eyes. She started to wonder how did Link manage to remain uneventful, and then remembered that he was from Ordon and he probably wasn't that interested in- or-

Rutela had been killed by Zant. His power must have contaminated Zora's Domain and if Link had to fight them off... "You saw her... getting killed?"

Link shook his head, just enough for her to see his discomfort, "No, she was gone already. I-"

Zelda did not pry, but her presence encouraged him.

"I talked with her spirit."

Zelda opened her eyes like saucers, shocked at the idea of someone else who could see more. But this was Link, The Hero, Link who defeated legions of monsters and Ganondorf, who helped Light Spirits bring the light back to the Kingdom. This was Link, and Zelda could feel her lips trembling because she didn't have to hide her magic now.

"What did she say?"

"She asked me to help her son."

Zelda whispered Ralis' name and grabbed her arms.

Link put his hand over Zelda's, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't know, I would have told you sooner, I-"

Zelda let out a tired laugh, "Oh, Link, it's fine. It's not that I am terribly sad over Rutela's death. She was a good ruler and we shared a bond, but she was a Zora..."

Zelda sniffled but said no more.

"Why didn't you know?"

"The same reason nobody in the Kingdom really knew I was held prisoner, the same reason the Council didn't dare think of my death till they saw a body," Zelda shook her head and threw her head back, "I might be a burden to the Council, and we might not see eye to eye, but I am still the Princess, I am still a symbol they need to keep peace. They needed Ralis to have a good grasp of his position before... you know, announcing it to the world."

The candle was right by her feet, but Zelda could feel the cold seeping through her feet. Cold and icy and unknown to her. Dark.

"Zelda?"

Zelda looked at Link, his hand was still over hers and Zelda grabbed it. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking..." Zelda shrugged her shoulders, "that could have very well been me."

Link abhorred the nonchalant way she talked about it. He could feel desperation pooling in his stomach at her closed eyes, as if acceptance was the only way to go. "If you had died then all of us would have died, too."

Zelda gave a faint smile, "You would have found a way-"

Link was sincere, "Zelda," and scared, "no."

Zelda snickered, "It's all right, I'm not going without a fight."

Link was still worried and Zelda could feel his words coming, so she interrupted, "Did you meet Ralis?"

Link was left with his mouth open but then sighed and answered, "Yes, I did. He helped me with something."

Zelda thought for a bit. With Link's record when meeting people it wasn't crazy to think that maybe, "Are you like, friends with him?"

Link did his best to remain nonchalant, but his eyes betrayed fondness, "He might have found courage in me."

Zelda could feel her heart bursting with pride.

"His words, not mine," Link mended.

Of course that child had found courage in Link.

⁂⁂⁂

Link threw himself on his bed and thought about Zelda's words. Rutela's death had been so secretive no one had known till now... what, almost a year after?

Link turned and thought about Zelda in her tower and the Council doing their best to hide the fact that maybe, their Ruler was dead. The uncertainty, the uneasiness, the anxiety.

Link turned again and thought about Zelda in her tower and her hopes of a hylian turned wolf to help her Kingdom. The uncertainty, the uneasiness, the anxiety.

Link closed his eyes and though about Ralis and his new position and...

The uncertainty, the uneasiness, the anxiety.

Link opened his eyes and darkness filled his vision. He touched to his left, trying to feel the shape of things. There was his sketchbook, there were his letters, and there was...

The shard of the Mirror of Twilight, oddly enough, shone in the dark.

Link touched it, but felt no spark.

Link thought of Zelda and her love for her Kingdom and her love for her people and the expectations everyone placed upon her.

And her uncertainty and anxiety, he promised he would destroy them.