Link is the stong, silent type (heroingreen) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-06-18 08:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, link, zelda |
Who: Link and Zelda
What: Facing Fears
When: Some time after the Frost
Where: Link’s Farm
Rating/Warnings: PG
Status: Complete
Navi was back, and that was great, even though the poor woman had been through hell. Zelda still wasn’t seeing it the way Link was. And then came the frost. They’d done all they could to keep things safe and sound, but there had been lots of damage to the farm. This wasn’t like in Frozen, where the frost lifted and the flowers were still in bloom. Zelda had made it her responsibility to watch out for the chickens in the coop she’d had constructed, and to help with the livestock. Blankets and space heaters made the barn almost as warm as the house. Zelda moved the chickens into one of the empty cow stalls, and brought in her goat. She’d bought a goat just moments before ice covered the land. For a moment she wondered if the goat was doing it. Then she came to her senses.
Now it was time to put everything back to normal. Bring the goat back to its pen, put the chickens back in their coop. Zelda was folding blankets she’d retrieved from the cows when she heard someone come into the barn behind her.
Not only was Link saying less and less these days, but there was a different light in his eyes. In some ways it was more intense and in others it was fading. That he was hurting was obvious. The woman who was for all intents and purposes his mother had been attacked and he hadn’t been able to help; sometimes, Link wasn’t sure which part of that was more difficult to think about. But there was something else, too. It was what intensified the light in his eyes: a fire from deep within. A burning that he was at a loss to articulate.
Whenever he looked at Zelda, he felt a flame lick him. It caused him to wince, sometimes visibly. He hadn’t been avoiding her around the farm, because there was too much work to do, but that had also been a distraction. Now that things were going back to normal--although they were going to take a huge hit in crop sales--he didn’t know how to approach her.
Zelda turned around at the sound of his footsteps and broke into a tired smile. She was really trying to get good at all of this farm stuff, and sometimes it was exhausting. But she was trying. The smile on her face faded a little when she saw the hurt in his eyes. The blanket was dropped quickly onto the pile and she started in his direction. Her movements were cautious and concerned. “Link?”
He had hesitated in the entryway, surprised to find her there, although he shouldn’t have been. Zelda was new to farm living, but she was adapting better than anyone could expected.
“Hi,” he said. He didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t want to be cold to her, but every time he saw her, it made him sad. It was so strange.
Zelda frowned gently. She came closer to him, not sure why he was so… sad. It made her nervous. Was something wrong at the farm? Had she done something wrong? “Are you okay?” She asked as she approached, one hand reaching out for his.
Link didn’t pull back. He wanted to hold her hand and feel good about it, but for some reason it wasn’t working that way lately. In fact, it only made him feel worse by reminding him that something was amiss. Still, he held her hand. He loved her. Nothing about that had changed. In fact… sometimes Link wondered if the reason why he felt horrible had something to do with loving Zelda even more lately… but that didn’t make sense to him.
“I’m ok,” he said, but he knew he wasn’t convincing anyone.
“What’s wrong?” Zelda asked. She stepped up close, taking both of his hands in hers. He wasn’t okay, and she could tell. It only made her more concerned when he lied about how he was. It felt like they’d been so busy with the farm’s recovery from the frost that she’d been distracted from what was really important. Namely, Link’s well being.
He released a breath that had been so tightly locked inside his lungs that it hurt to let go. His shoulders dropped and he shook his head. "I don't know... Ever since what happened to Navi, something hasn't been right. I can't relax. I don't feel good."”
Zelda was frowning now, concerned and nervous as she looked up into his face. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but he sounded terrible. He looked terrible, too. It made her heart hurt just imagining that he was in pain. “...what can I do to help?” She asked, and released one of his hands to rest hers flat against his chest.
It was then that Link pulled back. The spring had tightened and it was an almost involuntary reaction. “Nothing!” he found himself exclaiming. He felt like he wanted to cry. It was then that an idea began to take shape. Link collected himself and sighed. “I mean... what can any of us do?”
Zelda recoiled when he exclaimed. She felt like she wanted to cry, too. Only, likely for very different reasons. She folded her arms across her stomach and turned her eyes to the floor. She was reminded of when Link was Link, but not Link, when she bumped into him in that alley and he was surrounded by shadows. And it scared her. “I… I don’t know.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I should have been there to help Navi,” he said. It was suddenly spilling out even before Link could fully comprehend what he was saying. “But even if I had… what could I do? I’m lousy with my sword, unless I’m dreaming. I’m not as good as I’m supposed to be.”
Zelda was quiet for a moment, frowning down at the floor. She felt useless, too, in her own ways. But she thought Link was far from useless. She thought he was the sun and the moon and the stars, and when he was obviously in so much pain it made her insides hurt. “...so, get better.”
He skewed his face, looking confused in response, but only for a moment. Really, it was a little like something had whacked him in the back of the head, gentle though Zelda's words were. "Get better?" he repeated. There was something about his voice that was brighter than before, even if only slightly.
Zelda was nervous for a moment. Had she said the wrong thing? "Get better," she repeated gently. Her eyes finally lifted to his face again. "If you want to be better with your sword in this world... there's no one stopping you but you."
Link swallowed. He hadn't been blaming Zelda, at least not consciously. "It's..." he formed the words slowly. "It's been so long since I had people that I care about. I've lived alone. Now, all I can think about is how I don't ever want to lose you." He paused. "I'm scared of what might happen if I follow my destiny from dreams, and I'm scared of what might happen if I don't."
“You’re not going to lose me, Link.” Zelda said, shaking her head from side to side to emphasize the point. She stepped closer again and reached for his hand. “But… well, it’s hard when you dream about being so amazing, and then you wake. And you’re not…” She swallowed. It was something that Zelda didn’t like to think about. The Dream Zelda was so much more amazing than the Waking Zelda was. “You should do what it takes. Whatever it takes to make yourself feel better.”
“Bad things happen here,” he said, touching her cheek and feeling her soft skin. It felt like the first time they had really touched in weeks. “I want to be able to protect us.” Link look in a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “I need to work harder. I’ll feel better if I do.”
Zelda lifted her hand to touch his as it rested against her cheek. She gave a deep sigh, closing her eyes. It’d been a while since she’d felt his warm, rough skin against her own. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.” She wanted to support him in any way she could. She wanted him to be strong, and to protect their family. Navi and Zellie were obviously included.
Link let his actions speak for himself as he wrapped his arms around Zelda and drew her in, close to his chest. His eyelids fell. Zelda, and Navi, were like gifts he had been given and entrusted to protect. He would do anything to keep them from harm.