Falling Worlds; Zelink, Modern Magic AU (The Legend Of Zelda)

Aftermath (33)

Through the next few days... nothing changed.

Either Link was doing worse, or she was doing better because she felt she was getting the hang of the sword fighting. If only a little at a time.

The topic of what had happened wasn't discussed. It was on her mind almost constantly, but it was as if a silent agreement was made not to bring the subject up again so soon.

Zelda turned over on her bed as she tried to get comfortable... Sleep hadn't been coming to her easily the past few nights. Her thoughts were too filled with fate, swordplay techniques, and Link.

She felt that she had done the wrong thing... Everything she had said to him was true, and yet it left her feeling like an idiot. Had she seriously kissed him? What had she been thinking?

This wasn't like those games she'd played or books she had read... It just couldn't work out like that...

When sleep finally came... she wished it hadn't.

Transported to a desolate scene, a wasteland in the aftermath of a war. There was a large cliff, and under it were the remnants of a crushed town. Bodies littered the ground around where Zelda stood.

She looked in horror as she saw a young girl, still clutching her stuffed bunny close to her chest... the bunny's white fur turned red from splotches of blood across it.

Is this what Hyrule will do if we don't win? she thought. How could anyone do something like this...

Never before, not even in all the video games she had played had she seen something as horrible as what was all around her. The cliff wasn't a cliff, but an example of what would happen if a floating island hit the surface... Destroying so many lives...and the survivors would have lost their homes.

"I can't let them win."

"You can't stop me."

Zelda whipped around and beheld a monster towering over her.

Before she could do anything, its foot descended upon her, crushing her beneath its weight.

The pain was overwhelming. It consumed her, it consumed everything. It was all she could feel... All she knew now. She was no longer there, all she was had been-

"Zelda!"

Her eyes flew open. She could barely make out the face of Link through her blurry, tear-filled vision.

"Zelda! Are you alright? Are you awake?"

She only stared up at him, and then she broke; her sobs shaking her as she succumbed to the dream. As she thought about what she'd seen... What she'd felt...

Then she felt Link's arms around her, raising her up into the air. She felt him carry her out of the room and then sit down on the couch.

As she cried he ran his hand up and down her back, stroking in a gentle motion to try and soothe her.

Between the hiccups, she attempted to explain to him what she had seen... but her words were incoherent...

"Shh...you can explain it to me later..." he said in a calming voice. He moved the hair out of her face. "It's alright..."

It took awhile for her to calm down enough to form real words. "It's not... alright." She sniffed. "It's not... It's all..." She squeezed her eyes shut and started to shake again.

---

Zelda's eyes cracked open slowly. A ray of sunlight was assaulting her face like usual in the morning... but... she frowned as she glanced out the window. She wasn't in her room. Looking up, her eyes widened.

Link sat there, his head tilted to the side as he slept.

The memories of the night before came flooding back all at once. That nightmare, vision, whatever it was... and then Link coming into the room trying to calm her down... Zelda frowned. I must have fallen asleep on him... great. Another reason to feel like an idiot...

She wanted to get up without waking him... but his arms were still around her, as slack as they were in sleep. Pressing her lips together, she tried to shift without disturbing him...

His eyes flicked open.

Dang it, she thought as she bit her lip.

He looked over at her and he looked confused for a moment. As his expression cleared, he dropped his hands. "Sorry," he said quickly.

She moved her legs off of him and stood up, saying nothing.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"You weren't fine last night," he pressed.

"I am now!" she snapped. Then she brought her hands to her face and dropped back onto the couch. "Sorry... I didn't mean to yell..."

He shook his head. "It's fine..." he said. "Can you talk about it?"

Zelda sighed, dropping one hand from her face. "It was just... I saw what will happen if we fail."

Link stayed silent.

"I saw... I saw the islands on the surface, saw the destruction... met a monster... he.... hurt me."

"Hurt you?" he asked, surprised.

"I've never felt anything like that..." she said as she rubbed her hands up and down her crossed arms.

"That won't happen," Link said.

"How can you even say that?" She looked over at him. "How can you say that when it's the two of us against an entire country?" she asked. "Hope?" She snorted in derision. "Hope that my powers just magically appear one day so we can go and kill the king? What's our plan? How am I supposed to do anything, even with powers?" Her head fell into her hands as she leaned over her knees. "It's hopeless..."

Link shook his head. "It's not."

"How-"

"It's not," he said again. "I told you, you're going to be more powerful than you can possibly imagine. You can change the world."

"And what about you? What's your part in this?"

"I will protect you until then."

"I'm indestructible!" she yelled, standing up and looking down at him. "You're here to protect me? What a load of crap!" She whirled around and stormed off.

He stood up and tried to stop her, but she was already out the back door.