Links and the City(Linked Universe AU)

A Bath

Ravio lounged in the tub, allowing the jets to melt away his stresses. He languidly brought his goblet to his lips, chasing the last rouge drops with the tip of his tongue. He sighed heavily and wished for another bottle. He briefly contemplated ringing the little silver bell on the table beside his tub but thought better of it when he realized that it might wake his dear Hilda in the next room.

Oh.. Hilda. How glad he was to be by her side again....

Though by simply being back in Lorule now... after all this time meant that he was admitting failure in his sacred task.

"Protect the triforce... Protect Lorule." The then-young empress's pale, grim face echoed in his mind from that fateful night, clutching their wailing child she had grabbed painfully at his hand and made him swear. That was when everything changed. He would never forget it... no matter how much he drank: The set of her jaw in the flickering light, her sad eyes....etched forever in his memory.

He sighed again and set his now thoroughly empty goblet on the table and slipped his head beneath the suds, leaving only his nose poking out of the steaming bath. He heard the bubbles fizzing in his ears and it tickled. He surfaced slowly and pulled his long dark mane over his shoulder and began to wash it with care. He had to move gingerly, his injuries still not completely healed. Though the castle's healers had worked wonders in the brief time that they were given he still had a long way to go before he was healthy and hale again..

He rinsed and wrung out his long hair and flipped it over the rim of the tub to start slowly drip-drying while the rest of him continued to soak. He felt little rivulets running through the strands and pooling on the floor beneath the tub but he did't really care much in that moment. He thought back over the events of the last few days. How much everything had changed ..... Again. Link was back in the picture. A tiny thread of hope budded at the renewal of the worshipful fondness he had for his friend. Perhaps Link would save them all again...

Link was everything that Ravio had ever wanted to be... 

He was strong and brave, handsome, fair, and just. He had saved their entire world. There was a time that Ravio had thought himself in love with the Hero from Hyrule, but life and experience had shown him where his heart truly lay...

A soft knock came from the entrance of the bath, Ravio raised his head with a start, only to relax again upon seeing the exhausted and slightly puffy but still utterly lovely face of his bride.
Hilda smiled tiredly at him and gave a small wave before tugging her ornate robe closer around her slim frame. She approached and sat upon the stool next to the tub, lazily trailing her fingers in the sudsy water.

"Can't sleep, Love?" Ravio asked her in concern and she shook her head. She gave him a wan smile.

"They were lovely tonight weren't they." She asked with a tone of wistfulness.

He knew what she was asking... It was unlike her to dance around something like this but he indulged her. His pain too, made the matter much too close look directly at right now.

"Yes.. yes they were." He smiled at her over his shoulder and put a sopping wet hand upon her now previously dry one.

Hilda made a small sound, like a giggle, but so much quieter... it was music to the man's ears.
"I wonder what will happen now." She mused, squeezing his hand.

Ravio sighed and rang the bell. "I don't know." He said simply. "But I guess we'll figure it out like we always do."

Promptly a fresh bottle was resting on the little table beside the tub. The Empress and her consort shared a long silent draught of the sweet red liquid. Eventually, he persuaded her to climb into the tub with him. She rested her head against her husband's chest and seemed to melt into the hot water. Ravio set her empty glass upon the table before kissing the top of her head.

She murmured her appreciation and he chuckled his response.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Hilda asked quietly, her words slurring ever so slightly.

"I don't know.." Ravio answered again, for the second time tonight he had no answers and he hated it..

Hilda sighed sadly but nodded her head. "Ravio..?" She turned around so that her big red eyes rested imploringly upon his face. Goddesses above she was beautiful, he thought.

"Yes, Love?"

"I would have been a good mother..... wouldn't I?" She asked in a small voice. Her eyes full of unshed tears.

Ravio felt his heart crack, along with his resolve. "Hilda you WERE a good mother..."

Hilda smiled but doubt clouded her sad eyes. She shook her head. "No... I was young, and brash... drunk on my own hubris. But I did try.."

Ravio kissed her forehead before reaching over her and pouring them each another glass. He handed Hilda's to her which she gratefully accepted. She sat up in the big gilded tub crossing her feet beneath her and facing her husband, suds forming a cloud around her. Ravio sipped his wine before replying.

"Yes... But you are also the Empress of Lorule. Your pride....is our pride. You did what was best for Lorule. And you saved countless souls in the interim. Do not fret, beloved.... I would stand with you and make the same calls a thousand times over."

"We really did the right thing?"

Ravio looked into Hilda's eyes and gave her the most honest answer that he could.

"No.. But we did the best we could with the choices we had." He clinked his glass against his wife's before emptying it's contents into his mouth. "So there's that..."

Hilda followed suit and turned again resting against his chest, she sighed, contentedly, "Then...I can live with that..." 

 The pair lay together in the quiet for a long time, just savoring the warmth and each other's company.