Author's note:  Please be kind as the story is slightly based on a roleplaying game I wrote that has almost nothing to do with Hyrule at all, so some of the terms might not make sense.  If you like the story, check out www.geocities.com/frozentheater

 

 

 

 

 

 

And hands clenched together, the two lay on the bed.

 

She lay with her back to him.

 

And thoughts ran through their lifeless bodies.

 

He remembered.

 

Link remembered.

 

He remembered the engagement and the months leading up to it, the marriage, and that night.

 

That night.

 

The night of the unintentional conceiving.

 

Of the child.

 

Link's last night of residence in that little cottage right outside of Taeomal.  The night, so passionate and dear, bringing a new transition and a new life for that couple.

 

But more happened on that night than was expected.  Sacred among the elves was the ritual of love, so when she grew swollen in coming months, the two of them knew it was a remnant of that magical night.

 

She remembered.

 

Zelda remembered.

 

Zelda remembered the sweat dripping down their backs was like a great river and time ceased to exist, two becoming one.  Realizing that perhaps it was harder for Link to cope with what had happened than it was for her, Zelda had always attempted to be the strong one.

 

To reassure him.

 

To reassure Link.

 

That everything would end up okay.

 

Similar thoughts in Link's head ran through with such speed.  He had tried to be strong for her, the bearer of their child.  How hard it must be to be constantly reminded of the conception.

 

Twenty-one was too young.

 

They had decided on maybe thirty.

 

But not twenty-one.

 

And realizing little by little what was reality was heart-breaking for both of them.

 

Link was still young at heart with an adventurous spirit.  Settling down to start a family hadn't even crossed his mind.

 

And what are the chances on getting an elf pregnant on the first attempt?

 

It was not possible.  Completely out of the question.

 

And they were both so in love.

 

They still were.

 

Lying there together on the bed, to tired to move.

 

And even the thought of where they were brought Link back to that night.

 

That night when they moved together in the dark.  When the whispers they murmered were heard only by the trees.  And the way they touched...it was magical.

 

And the two lay on their bed, hand in hand.  As Link reminisced, he began to fiddle with Zelda's wedding ring.

 

And she remembered.

 

Zelda remembered.

 

She remembered the hours before the magic, when the ceremony took place.

 

When Priest Miric, a middle-aged elf of eighty tied their wrists together with the silken purple sash.

 

And spoke of the duties of marriage.

 

The duties to eachother.

 

And looking over, Zelda saw tears in Link's eyes.

 

Tears of happiness.

 

And she gripped his hand tighter.

 

And when it was all done, the night had began.

 

But that night, the night that had been so wonderful, now only made her sad.

 

Because she knew that everything was happening to quickly. Zelda long for the time when love took its own pace.

 

When friends became something more.

 

When "us" replaced "you and me".

 

And the years to come, when everything moved at the perfect speed and life was wonderful.

 

And she remembered.

 

Zelda remembered.

 

Zelda remembered the quiet eighteen-year-old who struck her with his silent intensity.

 

And that one evening when things started to become clear for them.

 

Zelda's birthday.

 

When the gateman told her Link was there.

 

On that evening.

 

When rain gushed as if the ocean had jumped from the heavens.

 

Link was the only commoner allowed to come to that palace.

 

Hurrying quickly, Zelda almost ran into the gateman to see Link, drenched in water, holding a bouquet of flowers, looking at Zelda with that unsure look he sometimes had.

 

"Happy Birthday."

 

And he was met by such an embrace that it took him a couple of seconds to realize what had just happened.

 

And what was happening.

 

When they had both realized that they had always loved each other.

 

And the years to come.

 

The typical spot in the shade of that oak tree.

 

And casual visit that had changed everything.

 

When Zelda found Link under the same tree as always, reading a book.

 

And he remembered.

 

Link remembered.

 

Link was remembering the same thing, though not uncommon as they both seemed to think the same things nowadays, when their love was the only matter on earth.

 

Link remembered the ring that had fallen out of his pocket, and how they had both reached for it at the same time, Link in embarassment and Zelda in extreme curiosity.

 

"Awkward" was all he could say.

 

"Link--"

 

"Just humor me, please.  It would have been a lot better if that hadn't just happened.  I was planning on tonight, but..."

 

He paused for a minute.

 

"...Will you marry me?"

 

And there was that embrace again.

 

The same one from three years ago.

 

And the she looked up at him and smiled.

 

"Yes."

 

And the two remembered together on that bed.  It was about noon, and a false alarm from the night before had left them both exhausted.

 

All of these thoughts, on top of endless fatigue...

 

Too much to take.

 

Link held Zelda closer...

 

...and the two fell asleep.

 

And as they drifted away, one more thought ran through their head.  It was what Priest Miric had said when he had learned of the baby.

 

"Embrace this new facet of your life together.  It will come whether you like it or not.  Go with the flow of life and you will make it to your eventual destination together."

 

And they remembered.

 

Six months later, he remembered.

 

Alone.

 

Without her.

 

Crying over what seemed to be the dead body of his very pregnant wife.

 

Completely broken down.

 

No more sweat pouring down his backs.

 

Only tears.

 

Endless tears.

 

And he remembered.

 

The life they had together.

 

That was too short.

 

Much too short.

 

And the tears came faster.

 

And Link fell to the ground beside her.

 

To be continued.....

 

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