underwaterocean

She had an hour. Only an hour to tend to the garden that had been her companion for as long as she remembered. She could once spend an entire afternoon with her fingers laced between the growing vines as she rested in the soft shade its blooms provided, reading slowly from her favorite novels as castle life bustled all around her, unaware and uncaring of how its crown Princess was spending her time. If she closed her eyes she could almost envision her mother as she had once been sitting beside her long ago, teaching her the unique wants and needs of each plant as they rooted in the soil at their feet; which needed more sun and which thrived in the shadows of others or how to thread their vines around the trellises that lined the outside rows. It was a piece of her that lived on well past the day she’d joined them in the soil below before Zelda herself had even had a chance to blossom.

Though the plot where the great Queen now rested bloomed with what once had been her most treasured flowers, nothing would grow from her death but a bitter emptiness that sat across Hyrule like a drought. Her untimely exit would ultimately drain the life from her once blossoming kingdom as the King she left behind failed to flourish where she had prospered. He ruled with much less grace than she had, leaving a bruise in the hearts of their people who were used to her tenderness and the natural ease with which she had led them. Though no one felt the weight of her absence quite like Zelda.

Her mother's passing had left her frightfully alone in a world that expected her to wield the same Goddess given power she had seemingly found so effortlessly. But where her mother had the guidance of the powerful women who had come before her to help her hone her gifts, Zelda had no one other than a father who believed more fervently day by day that she simply wasn't trying hard enough. So he’d taken from her every activity that had once brought her joy and replaced it with a rigorous religious training that would only serve to break her further. As a result, her time spent in the safety of her inherited garden was slim, though she snuck away as often as she could.

She sighed as she thumbed at the petals of the bushes before her, checking their elasticity to ensure they’d been watered enough, despite her inability to care for them as she once had. She picked up the watering can at her feet and showered the soil where they grew, watching as the thirsty earth grew dark as it drank what she provided. It was easy work that yielded linear results, unlike many other facets of her life, and the simple act of working towards their prosperity was enough to soothe her battled mind on the days she was able to attend to it.

“These need to be watered more frequently,” she said mostly to herself as she thumbed at the drying leaves and touched the bulbs fighting to open with what little the skies had offered them while she’d been away.

She waited until she was content with the moisture of the ground underneath her, turning to her silent companion who had been trailing her the entire time, as quiet as the petals that twirled in the breeze around them, content to allow her the peace her time there provided without feeling the need to insert himself into it.

“Is it time to go already?”

Her eyes gave away what her words did not as they lifted to meet his own, as soft and blue as they ever were. He stayed there for a moment, taking in the melancholy in her gaze as if he were trying to expose a way he could free her from it. But they both knew better. He was just as bound as she was to the shackles of prophecy that had brought them together and in the end, it would be both of them who would fail if she didn’t unmask her power soon. There was only so much he could do with the sword alone, they needed one another. And so far, he’d been carrying the weight of success all on his own. Yet there he was, allowing her to slip away yet again from her duties in order to indulge her own interests without any hint of disapproval to be found.

“It’s alright, we can stay a while,” he offered, even leaning his fabled sword against the outside fence in favor of extending his hand to her own.

She took it softly, quietly grateful he’d gone without his gloves in the mild spring weather so that she could feel his skin against hers.

“Do you need any help?”

She followed the length of his arm until she’d found her way to his chest, pressing her cheek against the fabric of the tunic she’d spun him herself and listening as the rhythm of his heartbeat increased at their closeness while he let his remaining arm wrap loosely around her waist. He’d shown unparalleled bravery in the face of great danger more times than she could count and was revered amongst the others in the guard for his ability to bring down slews of beasts that would often take entire units to conquer. He was the Hero who wielded the Master Sword, the Hylian Champion, and the youngest soldier to ever climb the ranks of knighthood. Yet she could end him with a single stroke of her hand along his cheek or a whispered word in his ear. It was a soft victory for the Princess who had yet to find her own valor, even as darkness crept ever closer.

“We should go or they’ll come looking for me.”

It was his turn to sigh as he held her closer, determined to keep her in her place of security if only a little longer before duty found them both back in the prayer room that had been her prison for the better part of a year now.

“It’s not fair.”

She released him and looked upon the heavy tilt in his brow, the downward turn of the pout that had taken over his lower features, and couldn’t help but find herself mimicking his sorrowful expression. He so rarely allowed his mask to break, always the brave hero for the people who had chosen to place their hope where they knew it wouldn’t be lost. But the closer they’d grown, the more she’d discovered that she was just as much a haven for him as he was to her. It hurt him profoundly to see her throw herself into devotion only to be turned away empty handed yet again, or to stand silently as her father berated her for damning their kingdom because of it. He’d offered to whisk her away into the wilds more than once, but they both knew her obligation to her bloodline forced her to stay and the sword on his back branded him as much of a servant to the kingdom as she was.

He was the only one who saw her as she was and not who she was meant to be. The only one that bent to better accommodate her needs rather than forcing her to fit into the agenda of others, whether or not it brought her harm. They’d found a sense of solidarity in the other; a sanctuary where they may safely lay bare everything they must keep hidden from the world that relied on them for its very survival.

“Life hardly is for us, is it?” She ended her thought with a feather light kiss to his cheek before encouraging him to begin the walk out of her gardens, “Will you still be by for supper later? If my father doesn’t drag me into his office again.”

“Of course.”

She knew she didn’t have to ask. He’d cancel everything if it meant being near her. She just wanted to hear him say it. To fill herself with the knowledge that her existence meant more than just her failures, if only to him. She turned to give him a smile that he mirrored as they left the shelter of the garden and set their stony exteriors that marked them as Princess and Hero as they made the long walk back into the prayer room yet again.

—

So it went for weeks and day by day Zelda found herself neglecting the garden that had once brought her joy, sometimes even going days without offering it any care. Her prayers only became more strenuous as her father’s desk filled with more reports of the malice that was slowly creeping into their land and she found what little energy she had left after her devotions was spent tucked into Link’s arms in her study as he offered to read to her the novels she didn’t have the spirit to move through herself anymore. He wasn’t as quick of a reader as she was, but just hearing the words as they traveled through his chest was as much a comfort to her as any. Most nights she drifted off there and sometimes he did too, waking the next morning with a stiff neck as he slept hunched over her curled form.

On one such morning, Zelda would rise before him. Though the entire castle knew of their growing closeness, he was still expected to maintain some level of propriety and would likely be scolded quite heavily by the King if they were to discover them pressed against the other as they were. He typically would attempt to sneak away before sunrise so that he could be seen exiting his own chambers at the start of the new day, leaving the nosey castle goers none the wiser and her father equally unaware. But there he still was, the folds of her linens pressed into his blushed cheeks as he lightly snored alongside the chirping of the morning birds.

She turned carefully, without letting herself become uncaged by his arms, so that she could rest her own cheek against him and trace the lines of his other hand that he had draped across his abdomen in his sleep. She watched as it lazily lifted up and down with each breath, the tips of his knuckles just catching the early light that cut though the high windows. Though as she lazily traced down the soft skin on the back of his hand, she felt a series of small cuts which instantly triggered the more analytical parts of her brain. It wasn’t uncommon for him to have small injuries, but these were unlike any she’d seen on him before. They were shallow, some with small punctures that tapered into thin lines as if he’d pricked himself on something and pulled away, yet gone back again to earn more.

She began shuffling slightly in the sheets so that she could get a better view, leaning over him so that she could see them in their entirety. He stirred when she did, letting out a soft groan as his eyes rolled under his still closed lids, almost as if his body were protesting coming out of the relaxed state it was in. Not wanting to wake him any further, she stilled completely, letting her hand freeze above his where she’d been examining it. With a long sigh, he seemed to settle back to sleep and only then did she continue her investigation.

What had he been doing that would have caused such marks? He was with her more often than not and surely she would have noticed if he’d hurt himself on something, even if he refused to admit it. He’d once worked a week with a broken arm before she had caught him favoring his other one, only allowing her to send him to have it set when she threatened not to share her dessert with him that evening. So it was unlikely he’d ever mentioned it to her in passing and she’d simply forgotten. It wasn’t as if they were anything serious and certainly didn’t require anything more than a salve she could grind together with ingredients she had in that very room, but the mystery of it bothered her all the same.

She squinted her eyes as the sun rose higher in the morning sky, sorting the catalogs of information in her brain in hopes of anything that may help her to explain them before needing to seek an outside source. Yet oddly, all she could think of was her mother, so she sat back on her heels beside his still slumbering form and allowed herself to indulge in the memory they brought forth.

—

“Careful darling, they are quite beautiful but not without bite. Here, put these on.”

The elegant woman lifted her small hands and carefully tucked them into a pair of leather gloves she’d fished from the pockets of her apron before doing the same to her own.

“Mama, why do the roses have to grow thorns?”

She knelt down as she brought a stem closer for her inspection.

“You may think of them as delicate, fragile things only meant to blossom for the benefit of their beauty. But these remarkable plants are quite the little warriors, you know.”

“Warriors?”

The Queen smiled as she reached into her apron again for her garden shears, measuring carefully where to cut the fully opened blossom.

“Oh, yes. This little greenery works hard to ensure that it thrives and it doesn’t want its artistry stolen, whether by a greedy creature to eat or a curious eye like ours to admire. So it grows these for its own protection. Remarkable, isn’t it?”

She carefully applied pressure to the small prickles that lined the now cut stem of the flower in her hand, keeping an eye on the child that was watching with intense curiosity only inches from where she worked. With only a slight push, the curved thorns fell to the ground below, leaving a now smooth surface. The much smaller Princess stood diligently still as her mother then gently tucked the stem behind her ear; earning a smile that was just as brilliant as the flower that now adored her instead of the bush it had been plucked from.

“Sometimes…the world may desire from you more than you are willing to give. But you must find a way to protect what it is within you that they feel they are entitled to. Always fight for yourself, my Princess. Even if you must be a little prickly,” she ended with a wink that left Zelda giggling as she reached up to feel the softness of the petals between her fingers.

—

The sun entering her study shone down upon her then with a renewed warmth as she cleared the bleariness from her eyes and studied his hand for a final time, now remembering with clarity where she’d seen the marks before. Careful not to wake him, she folded the quilt back around his still limp form and slipped from bed, following the fervor of her realization all the way across the long bridge that connected her private quarters to the castle and into the aisles of the garden she hadn’t seen for the past month.

Though she had nearly abandoned her once carefully manicured rows of flowers and shrubbery, instead of dried vines and crumbling petals she would find it as pristine as if it had never missed a day of care. Though the groundskeeper had offered her on multiple occasions to tend to it in her stead, there was some part of her that wouldn’t allow herself to accept the help, as if in doing so she would somehow fail at the hidden obligation she felt to her mother to keep alive the work she’d poured so much of her life into. Yet despite her weeks of absence, it was as beautiful as that day in her memory, each plant thriving like she’d been working on them herself, or as if someone who had watched her methods from right behind her the entire time had picked up where she had been forced to leave off.

She walked the stone path, letting her fingertips glide over the silky leaves of her flourishing flowers, admiring the way their blossoms opened up in the brilliant light of the morning sun. She smiled to herself as she pictured him sneaking off to water them or prune the dead leaves. The mighty Hero of Hyrule, carefully clipping hydrangeas. He’d left no detail untouched, even returning her tools to the same place and order she preferred to keep them in. She fisted her hand in the light fabric at her chest, trying and failing to hold back the tears that began to brim the edges of her eyes. While the others around her had been scrutinizing her every move and labeling her as incomplete, he’d simply been watching and learning her as she was so that he could provide even this small comfort, as meaningless as it would be to anyone else. But to her it was everything.

She wiped at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve as she reached the back wall of the garden, her cheeks rounding into another soft smile when she noticed the roses she’d been carefully weaving around a tall archway trellis were now in full bloom. He’d even taken the time to ensure he continued her work there as well, encouraging the climbing plant to wrap even taller around the structure. In only a few short weeks the entire arch would be covered, just as she’d planned. Before she could take a step forward to admire them closer, the sound of someone crashing down the path behind her had her turning on her heels.

“Zelda!”

When she spotted him, her smile only deepened. He seemed in a state of absolute panic, having not even stopped to slip on his boots. He stood there barefoot, the white linen of his sleep shirt softly rippling in the slight breeze as his chest heaved up and down. He ran towards her before she could answer him, swooping her into a relieved embrace that left his face squished into the curve of her neck as he worked to catch his breath.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Did you do all of this?”

They spoke at the same time and when he’d finally managed to compose himself to let go of her, she watched as his expression danced from worry to bashfulness as he looked around and pointedly ignored her eyes before nodding.

“You just…” He scanned over the area slowly, shuffling his feet underneath him before he eventually looked up again, “You just work so hard. With everything. And I…there are some things I am helpless to aid you with. But this…this I could do for you.”

She grabbed him again, pressing their cheeks together as she held him tight, causing him to lift to his tiptoes to keep up with her enthusiasm as she nearly lifted him off the ground. But he seemed to find just enough balance to return it with as much eagerness, squeezing her so close to him it seemed as though he was trying to absorb her completely. She turned in his arms so that her lips managed to catch his, their noses bumping together as they connected.

He always acted so surprised when she kissed him, despite how many times they’d done it before. It was something she loved so dearly about him. It was just so genuine and so telling of how deeply his affection ran for her that she couldn’t help herself from surprising him time and time again.

Their kiss was only a small thing. Nothing extravagant or overly indulgent. Just something soft and sweet. But she poured every ounce of adoration and appreciation she held for him into and didn’t need to open her eyes to see it all reflected right back. When they’d finally broken apart, she let loose his long hair which she tangled her fingers into at the base of his neck in favor of holding both his hands in her own, lightly pressing each place on his skin the thorns from her shrubbery had marked onto him.

“Those roses are tricky,” he said as he watched her, feeling the softness of her fingers as they made circles across his skin, “I didn’t notice the thorns until I was already tangled in them.”

“They are beautiful, but not without bite.”

He flipped their hands then so that he now held hers, holding her gently as she let the memory settle, allowing the ache of her absence to pass so that she might be able to revel in what she still had right there with her, rather than become entrenched in what she’d lost.

“Thank you,” her words came as more of a breath that passed between them. But he heard her all the same, bringing their clasped hands to his lips and returning the sentiment with a kiss to her knuckles, ever the courteous knight.

“Is it time to go already?”

Her eyes gave away what her words did not as they lifted to meet his own, as soft and blue as they ever were. He stayed there for a moment, taking in the melancholy in her gaze as if he were trying to expose a way he could free her from it. But they both knew better. He was just as bound as she was to the shackles of prophecy that had brought them together and in the end, it would be both of them who would fail if she didn’t unmask her power soon. There was only so much he could do with the sword alone. They needed one another. And so far, he’d been carrying the weight of success all on his own. Yet there he was, allowing her to slip away yet again from her duties in order to indulge her own interests without any hint of disapproval to be found.

“It’s alright, we can stay a while,” he offered, even leaning his fabled sword against the outside fence in favor of extending his hand to her own.

“You know, there was something about him that first day you two met. I’d never seen you so drawn to another child before.”

Zelda groaned and plopped herself up to sit on the table, picking up a slice of cake to give her something to focus on other than her mother, who loved to tease the girl about the relationship that had grown between her and the boy she’d met as a child. They’d taken such a liking to each other that day in the throne room that the Queen had offered to his new parents a chance for him to attend classes with the young Princess, giving him an education they would have never dreamed to be able to provide their adopted son. They’d agreed wholeheartedly and the two had been inseparable ever since.

“Did you know your father gave me a hard time about sending that boy to the castle school? He wanted the family to pay for it in full. Said we couldn’t have peasant children in the same class as you. Can you believe that? I sometimes wonder where his empathy has gone. He wasn’t like that when we first met, you know. He used to be just as sweet as Link is to you.”

Zelda looked up then, and though she’d felt a heat on her cheeks when she’d mentioned their closeness yet again, she couldn’t help but notice the distance that was now in her mother’s eyes. But the moment didn’t last long. The dignified Queen composed herself just as quickly as she’d allowed her melancholy to slip, crinkling her eyes as she reached across to wipe a stray smear of icing off her daughter's cheek.

“Looks like he missed a spot.”

“Mother!” She covered her face in horror.

"Do you want something warm to drink?"

He didn't answer. He hadn't said a word since he'd shut the thick door to their cabin behind them in the Hebra Mountains and rekindled the hearth to stave off the chill that had settled there since they’d left it earlier that day. It wasn't unusual for him not to speak. In fact, there were many moments when she savored the comfortable silence that sometimes fell between them when they were content to simply share the other's space. But this was different. He had a noticeable pout to his brow and a heaviness to his step that spoke of something deeper stirring in his usually calm waters.

"I can heat up some water and make some tea if you'd like. Your nose is still red, you should probably try to get warm before you grow ill. You shouldn’t have given me that last elixir."

"I'm fine."

He shook his head as he peeled off his outermost layer, plopping down on the wooden sofa that sat conveniently in front of the fire that would warm him as she suggested without him admitting to actually taking her suggestion.

"I have that honey you found in Faron I can stir in," she tried to entice him with sweets, but to no avail.

He simply grunted in reply as he tucked himself deeper into the quilt he’d since wrapped around his shoulders.

“Alright, suit yourself.”

She took her time with the tea, carefully arranging the leaves into the small, spherical apparatus she’d crafted that allowed her to brew them without having to suffer through their bitterness lining the bottom of her mug when she was done. She sat serenely and watched the steam rise out of the ceramic curves of her cup, occasionally shifting her focus over to where Link still sat moping in his chair off to her side, staring into the flames before him as if they would unveil the key to ending his dreadful mood.

Eventually her leaves had been steeped with the perfect tones of flavor to suit her palate and a glistening spoonful of honey had been generously stirred into both of the mugs she now carried towards him. She sat his mug down on the arm of the sofa and suppressed a giggle when he reached for it sheepishly, holding it carefully in both his hands as he blew little swirls of steam in the chilled air before him.

“You know, being crowned as the second best shield surfer isn’t all that bad. You still beat Selmie”

He cut his eyes to her then before finally finding his voice he’d lost the moment that silver medallion had been draped across his neck.

“That just means I was the first to lose.”

She couldn't help but laugh at his genuine dejection as he shrunk even deeper in his chair and sipped on his mug of tea.

“My gold medal will look lovely hanging above our mantle at home though, don’t you think?” She shot him her smuggest grin that left him rolling his eyes.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, you were a wonderful teacher, you know.”

“So wonderful that you didn’t hesitate at all knocking me off that one curve,” his frown was slowly dissipating as he let the warm liquid fill his stomach and the sweetness of the honey coat his throat.

“Well of course, I wasn’t about to lose.”

He gave his eyes one more roll for good measure before opening his blanket and encouraging her inside. She shuffled over quickly and settled naturally into him, letting him cocoon her with the quilt and his arms as their mugs clicked together. They stayed that way for some time, finishing off their tea and setting their mugs on the floor so that they could more properly cuddle together. Soon enough, she felt his breathing begin to even and his hold on her loosen as he started to doze off, the tea and the comfort of their closeness enough the soothe him into a light sleep.

“Just wait until we do the Sand Seal Races. Perhaps you’ll find some redemption then,” she grinned into his chest as he suddenly became more alert, both of them knowing who had spent the largest chunk of their childhood in the desert practicing that particular sport.

He had unraveled his turtle neck so that it protected his sensitive nose from the worst of the winter wind while also making him appear like an overgrown child playing with his clothes. It made Zelda both giddy with affection and flushed from the slight secondhand embarrassment that was watching the people cut their eyes his way as they passed them by on the small sidewalk. He’d be a slight curiosity to them that would quickly fade away; just a giggle under their breath as went about their day . But he was hers forever, or so said the ring that she loved to spin around his finger as they held hands on their way for a hot drink on that coldest of days in the dead of winter. She wouldn’t trade him for anything, silly as he was with his long hat his mother had knit for him swung over his shoulder and his eyes scrunched in a smile she couldn’t see through the fabric of his shirt but knew was there.

“You don’t even like coffee, what are you going to get?”

“A hot chocolate.”

She squeezed his hand and bumped into his shoulder as they made their way to the entrance of the small coffee shop, scooting to the side to allow another couple to pass through before Link caught the door for her.

“After you, your Highness.”

“You stop that!” She smacked him with her knit hat she’d slid off her head, but the grin on her face told him she was just blowing smoke. She secretly loved his little pet names, though she’d never admit it. Teasing him about it had proven more fun anyway.

They made their way to the counter, waiting behind an elderly man who grumbled when asked his milk preference and a teenage girl who could hardly order because of how furiously she was typing on her phone. When they had finally made their way to the front of the line, Zelda was the first to order.

“A small, hot peppermint mocha with oat milk, please.”

The worker scribbled her order on the cup before looking up at Link.

“Uh...a large hot chocolate. Kid temperature, please.”

Both women paused to look at Link who seemed oblivious to their bafflement as he read the back of a tea bag that was displayed on the counter.

“That means you want it...lukewarm, correct?”

“Yes, please.”

The barista flattened her mouth before shrugging and writing the instructions on his cup. She took the card from his already outstretched hand and swiped it and before moving to the back to make their drinks.

“Kid temp? Really?” Zelda laughed as he slid his wallet back into his jacket pocket and they stepped to the side so that others could order.

“It always burns my tongue. They make it so hot! And I like being able to drink it immediately. I don’t have the patience to sip it like you do, I’m thirsty. Hey, look! That mug has a Z on it!”

He grabbed her hand and scampered towards a wall of personalized mugs just off to the side of the counter, picking up the one that had caught his eye and holding it in front of her like a prize.

“Oh my gods, it even has a little korok inside at the bottom that says 'Ya ha ha! You found me!' Zelda, you need this!”