Scars

Chapter 1

"There," a satisfied voice came from the short-haired woman, dusting out what was left of the castle's library. Her royal outfit was fairly dusty and would need cleaning from all the work she was doing.

"Link! How does it look?" Zelda slid down the ladder she used to dust off the tops of the gigantic bookshelves. She nearly fell, but it was faster than going down the ladder one step at a time.

Link, covered in much more dust and scratches than his partner, peeked out of the upper hallway, with a wide-eyed look, surprised at how much dust must've been in the library. "Looks good!" He put the Master Sword back into its sheath and hurried down the stairs; the stairs which had a long metal ramp going across it to compensate for the loss of stairs.

"Is the upper level clear?" Zelda asked, handing a clean towel to Link so his face could be at least partially free of grey dust.

"Yeah. The others got the dining hall pretty clean too," He responded, his voice rough as usual, though a bit muffled through the towel. "There were still some bokoblins hanging around so," his smile was felt from a mile away from he said, "I threw them out the window."

"Of course you did," she sighed with and shared Link's radiant smile. "Could you tell the others to take a break for now? I think we worked enough for the day."

Link nodded, promptly running back to the upper chamber. Zelda looked back at all the work that had been done; only a month in and the castle was still its destroyed self from 20 years ago, the only difference being fewer monsters and less dust.

Seeing the castle in this state was like a scar, reminding of how late her sealing powers came. She told herself each night that, no, this isn't her fault, but those scars just didn't heal properly.

Maybe, just maybe she thought, if she could restore some of the glorious citadel to its former glory, that scar would finally heal right.

On an impulse, the princess used the sheikah slate she'd borrowed from Link, and traveled to the front of the castle, trying to remember where her study was.

She had taken a few wrong turns, partially due to her memory not being as clear, but she had finally gotten to the bridge which led to...

Well, what was once her study. She had hoped for some things to be left there, but it seems the calamity had nearly caved it all in, save for her old research diary.

She flipped through the pages with a delicate touch, as the paper was almost ashes in the wind. Reading the diary was giving her a glimpse into the past, allowing her to reflect on her emotions. Maybe her father was really looking out for her, telling her to stop focusing on the Guardians.

...Nah.
She felt childish, but it still left a sour taste in her mouth when she reflected on that. The diary reminded her of the guardian parts she kept in that room, which some were still in the last place she left it.

And once more, she was lost in her world of ancient technology, as she moved fallen timber out of the way and found more gears and ancient screws.

She must've been in a whole different world because when she was struck in the back, it threw her into reality at such a speed it made her sick.

The pain wasn't that bad, though one more strike would probably spell out death for her there. She turned around to see a dark-colored Moblin, gripping what could easily be a royal broadsword.

Panicked, she took a run for it, trying to get as far away as possible. Pain, however, seared across her back and rendered her motionless for a few seconds.

She analyzed the situation, looking at where a possible solution could be. From what Link had told her, Moblins had pretty large swings of attack. She had to move away in time.

Zelda took a risky choice but managed to rip the royal broadsword from out of the monster's hand, just when it finished its attack.

She had struck the monster 3 times in the back but was only lucky that it fell off the bridge when she couldn't grip the sword anymore.

"Zelda!" A shaky, rough, and loud voice dashed up to her, clear who it was from the sound of frantic steps.

"...Hello." She was unsure of what to say, knowing she defeated a black Moblin without Link's help. "Sorry for not letting you know."

The nonchalant response was met with a thousand, "do you know what could've happened if-" and frantic eyes. Link probably lost a heart looking at the mark the Moblin made.

Zelda sheepishly apologized, though realizing how similar Link was to her late father.

Maybe he was looking after her after all.

"Zelda, sweetheart please let me know when you're coming here next time--" Link was suddenly pulled off his train of frantic thought when realized he didn't ask how Zelda got hurt. "Wait, wait. How did you get hurt?"

She stood up, picked up the royal broadsword in the process. "I'd tell you, but I'm afraid you'd have a panic attack."

"I already am..!" Link whined, desperately trying to calm his nerves. He may have been brave and bold, but Zelda was just a whole different story.

She grabbed Link's hands, intertwining them with her own, and looked him in the eyes, trying to put him at ease. "Link, breathe."

Link did as ordered, and after a minute or so, he was much better than before.

"While I was in my study, a black Moblin attacked me, but I grabbed his sword and thankfully it fell off the bridge," Zelda explained, looking him dead in the eyes.

Link's breathing became a bit unsteady again, but it was quickly corrected. "Please let me take you back to Hateno. If we are going to come here again, I need to clear this castle on every level."

Zelda hesitantly agreed. She wanted to stay, but there was nothing more they could do for the ruined place.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the castle and wished the other workers a safe trip. The Princess and her Knight readied their items and packed them onto their horses.

The ride to Hateno was unusually tense between them. While on horses, they'd blabber about a million things until the horses themselves probably got tired of their giggly talk.

Link had noticed the way Zelda had held her back up. It was imperfectly straight.

"Zelda? Your back, is it okay?" Link's eyes were fixated on her.

"Yeah," She badly lied through the dull pain. "It's alright, don't worry."

Link had paused for a good bit, still fixated on her, but had moved his eyes to her back.

"I have some hearty elixirs at the house. Can you control your horse like that?"

"Link, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine." She again, badly lied, which gained an eyebrow raise from her knight.

She couldn't argue with him, so she ended up riding on Link's horse, while holding onto him and being able to relax her back some more. Her horse followed.

The night began to spread its wings over the horizon, and the stars soon came out to decorate the sky.

Soon enough, she began to grow drowsy from all the work in the day alone. Though she was half-awake, she could hear ( and feel ) humming come from Link.

Link humming was one of the ways he had learned to pass time while reading a horse. It'd kept him awake and calm. Though, with Zelda leaning on him with her wrapped around him lightly, it invoked a whole new sense of calmness.

When they reached Hateno Village, it was night, and most of the adults and kids in the village were tucked into bed. Link had stopped both of the horses outside and gently poked Zelda awake.

The sleepy princess groaned upon being woken up, but was answered with a "You can go back to sleep, just go upstairs."

Zelda, more sleep-walking than anything, made her way up the sturdy stairs of Link's house and instantly curled up into sleep on his bed.

"Goodnight, Queen," Link said to what he thought was an empty room, a blush, and smile on his face.

"Goodnight, King," Zelda said, as if on cue.

Now that made Link fluster.