Your Love is My Burden

Freedom to Speak

"You've never opened up to me, you barely even told me what you enjoy or like. You always tell me what I should and shouldn't do. You're like a machine. You don't care Link. You act like you do but you don't. You won't open up at all. And... it hurts to watch. I don't know what I did to you. I would be willing to apologize for anything and possibly everything but you're not even giving me that chance." I said, grabbing both of his hands, moving them away from my face. As sad as this is, I have to break him. He won't speak to me so I have to take drastic measures. He... chose this. Tears now overflowed from his eyes, his whole demeanor changing. He took a haggard breath, absolutely devastated. I had never seen this side of him. He never expressed his emotions. He never cried, he never responded to pain or comfort. He would simply just stare and not say a word about how he felt. I tried my best to completely disassociate but still be present to watch him react. I had to make it seem like I went blank as he always did. He looked at me for a couple seconds, before looking away, silently crying in front of me. He continued to look back at me and then at the ground, each time he looked at me, he broke even more until he was sobbing out loud. I felt his pain so much that I started tearing up until I couldn't go blank anymore because just him crying had also brought me to tears. Link suddenly pulled me into his arms, burying his face into my shoulder, continuing to sob silently. He was shaking so much and I could feel his pain now from head to toe. I wanted so badly to tell him everything that bothered me that he did but the other half of me wanted to cradle him until he couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I wasn't enough. I'm sorry I was silent. I'm sorry I can't be there for you. I'm sorry... so sorry." Link barely got out, being choked by his own tears.

"You don't have to hide anymore-"

"No. You still don't understand. I can't... Princess I can't and shouldn't be doing any of this. I'm so sorry but I can't give you this. I shouldn't even be in tears right now. I shouldn't even be this close to you and yet I'm selfish. I can't even follow your father's orders that I swore to. Hylia should curse me because of that." Link said, holding onto me like this was his last hug he would ever receive. My... father? What does he have to do with any of this?

"What do you mean? You swore to protect me... not to be..." Reality hit me so hard then. My father had asked more of Link than I had originally thought. I knew exactly what my father had asked him to do. Link could tell I had figured it out for he froze in place at my gasp of realization.

"He... asked you to stay silent because he didn't want you to distract me with finding this power. He... broke you down until you couldn't bear it any longer... You... crumbled. You're... no different from me... That sword weighs on you just as much as my quest does." I was in shock. I somehow didn't think about this at all. My father... put all this onto him and he took it because he had no other choice. It wasn't his decision to remain the way he did, my father had asked so much of him to the point of Link not even being able to not hear someone's voice. Everything seemed to stop when Link relaxed for the first time in my arms. His warmth seemed to surround me and every burden was washed away by that simple action. I couldn't help but shiver a bit at the feeling. There had been so much tension between the two of us and now... it merely disappeared within seconds. Peace had finally settled between us. Everything's okay now. Link exhaled before separating from the hug, not smiling but I could see so much resolve in his still teary eyes. I took a breath, letting out a small laugh, happy that he finally got some sort of comfort. I had never seen him... the real him... and now he was a lot clearer to me than before. I wanted more from him even though I knew that was selfish.

"Let's be off then." I said with a small smile on my face, gently taking Link's hand in mine, tired of the distance that was created between us by my father, wanting to know Link more than ever now. Link seemed to hesitate in walking next to me.