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

Idiot (34)

Zelda sat in the tree and picked the bark off the trunk piece by piece. She hadn't meant to yell at him... hadn't meant to run away... had she even meant to kiss him? Her head fell back against the branch. Yay for being an idiot.

She shook her head. Seriously... how could you have been so stupid? Why did you do it? What were you expecting? Sighing, she moved and climbed a few more of the branches.

The view was obstructed by the taller trees around her, but she didn't mind. The trees themselves were a view to her. Facts presented themselves to her for consideration... she pressed her fingers against the bark and thought about how the trunk of the tree was really just the stem of the huge plant.

Zelda remembered building a tire swing with Kaebora in the back yard, as they talked about the tree they were going to hang it on... all the different facts that he had told her about... She closed her eyes, trying to control the emotions running through her... Trying to focus on the happiness of the memory, not her sadness that he was gone.

Eventually she climbed down from the tree and wandered back into the cabin, trying not to think about how she had stormed out... trying not to dwell on what she was sure would be a confrontation from Link for how she was acting... But she was scared... she was scared, and she felt like a fool for what she had done.

For everything.

When she entered through the back door she saw that Link was sitting in his usual spot, head tilted down.

As she rounded the couch she saw that he wasn't reading like she had expected him to be doing. He was just staring down at his hands.

"Link?"

His eyes snapped up onto her. "Zelda!" he said, jumping to his feet. "Zelda, I'm sorry."

She shifted her weight onto one foot uncomfortably. "For what? I'm the one that yelled at you," she said.

"I... I've been an idiot."

"We both have been."

He shook his head. "No, just me," he said.

She only frowned.

"I thought in order to protect you I had to do it like a knight would, but... I was wrong." He shook his head. "I was wrong, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put my beliefs of the situation above yours. I don't think I am worth much in comparison to you-"

Zelda nearly growled. "Get over it. Because I do; and I'm not better than you. We're different, but that doesn't raise one of us over the other," she said.

He nodded several times. "That's what I'm saying. While my beliefs controlled me before... I won't let them rule me anymore." He swallowed. "My feelings for you... they didn't go away, even though I tried-"

Zelda took a step back and stared at him as the word repeated in her mind. "Wait... wait a sec, feelings?" she asked, taking another step back from him. "I thought... but you didn't..."

Link stepped towards her. "That's why I'm an idiot."

Her eyes widened, but she didn't move as he took another step closer.

"I am no longer a knight... and I am no longer required to act like one," he said, his voice growing quiet. "My station, my worth, my fears..." He raised his hand to her face, but merely hovered just above her skin. "You... you kissed me... none of that matters anymore."

The burning that she had felt in her chest the moment before she had decided to kiss him flickered to life again. At the same time she felt short of breath, her brain was starting to shut down even as it went into overdrive. She only stared at him, trying to remember how to transport oxygen to her brain. Trying to remember how to think, how to-

The last connection to the analytical part of her brain shut off as Link pressed his hand to her cheek and kissed her.

She didn't think, she didn't question, she didn't hesitate... she only leaned into him.

Link leaned back to look at her, and the way that his lips curved into a smile destroyed the last vestiges of her doubt that what was happening was reality...

Then he returned for more, and Zelda met him in the middle, tilting her head and closing her eyes.

As their lips broke apart and he leaned back again, his breath caught. "Zelda?" Link asked, hands tightening around her.

She opened her eyes and tilted her head to the side. "What?"

"... You're invisible."

"What?!"