Noble by Nature

Chapter 17

Zelda allowed herself and Link to stay inside for two whole days.
     She didn't feel like seeing anyone, let alone speak to them and explain the situation. He was the only person she could actually talk to, and even then they didn't say that much.
     Her mind was a jumbled mess, but the thought of their unborn child kept returning to her every few seconds.
     Somehow, every time she managed to forget it for a little while, it would feel like losing the child all over again once the memory hit.
     In the end she decided to go and get some fresh air, and they spent the day roaming the beaches and wading through the shallows.
     It was peaceful out here, so quiet she could almost forget the horrors out in the real world.
     'It was a girl,' she whispered to Link halfway down an isolated beach. They were the first words she had spoken in maybe an hour, and her voice was hoarse.
     She kept her eyes on her feet, on the way the water moved around them and glinted in the sunlight.
     Under her fingers she could feel Link's arm tense up, but he kept walking beside her, his toes digging into the soft white sand.
     'How do you know?' He eventually asked with a voice barely more than a flutter of wind.
     'I saw her,' Zelda said, frowning. It had taken her a while to finally realize, but now she was certain of it.
     Link stopped walking and turned to look at her, and she felt her eyes pulled towards his. His expression was like a slap to the face, so open, so full of pain and grief. But his eyes were burning into hers, as if desperate to take in as much information as he could about their baby girl.
     'In my mind,' Zelda clarified softly. 'There were all these memories, but this one was different.' She shrugged. 'I don't think it was a memory.'
     Link quirked his head, but his expression was soft. Gentle. 'What did she look like?' He sounded breathless, and she could feel her heart melt for him. She couldn't believe she had never before realized what a wonderful father he would be.
     'Well,' she started, a tiny smile appearing on her lips, 'like me. At first I thought I was seeing myself as a little child. She had my mother's golden hair, and green eyes. But I believe they were brighter and more beautiful than mine.'
     'Even more beautiful?' Link asked with a halfhearted smirk. But there was a faraway look in his eyes, as he tried to imagine what she told him.
     'Her eyes were bright like yours,' Zelda said. 'And she had your smile.' Her heart filled with love for him, and for their unborn child. She would give anything to see that image in her mind become real.
     Link's eyes filled with tears and he looked away, staring out over the endless sea. 'I wish I could have met her.'
     Zelda grabbed his arm and pressed herself against him, following his gaze to the horizon. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she let them fall into the salty water at her feet. 'Me too.'

It was when they were sitting at the end of the dock, legs dangling down so that her toes brushed the water, that Zelda spoke up.
'We will have to return soon,' she muttered, less than excited by the prospect.
She could feel Link nodding. He had his arm around her shoulders, with her head resting against his chest, but she didn't turn to look him in the eyes.
She knew he didn't want to go either. He never really liked being cooked up in the castle. This was where he was most at home, out in nature, with as little people as possible around to bother him.
Especially now, with their grief still so fresh. Neither of them wanted to go back to society, where there would be people around them all the time, everywhere they went. People with questions and opinions, and no respect for privacy.
'Are you ready for that?' He asked.
'No.' She sighed deeply. 'But I don't think I ever will be. And we have to warn the people, have to find out what he will do. Before it's too late.' The thought of Ganondorf made her stomach churn, both in fear and hatred.
She couldn't help but blame him for the loss of their child. If she hadn't been haunted by him, if she hadn't had to endure that mortal fear, if she hadn't been attacked and captured by his Malice, she wouldn't have been so traumatised. Her body wouldn't have reacted the way it did.
He had taken everything from her before, with the creation of Calamity Ganon.
She had lost her father, her friends, her home. She had lost Link. For a hundred years she had been stuck with that vile creature.
And when she had finally been freed, when she had made new friends and found another family, when she had gotten Link back, and built a new home, he managed to find something else to take from her.
     He wouldn't wait for them to process their grief. He had to be stopped.
Link's soft voice pulled her out of her grim thoughts, bringing her back to the sunny seaside with him.
'You're right,' he said, rubbing her arm gently. 'When do you want to leave?'
'The sooner the better I think. Maybe tomorrow morning?' She shrugged. The longer they stayed, the harder it would be to ever return. Ganondorf or not.
'So be it,' Link muttered. They fell quiet again, watching the reflection of the sun dance on the water.
Off in the distance Bazz and Rivan were doing some kind of drills in the open sea, splashing around wildly but gracefully, their spears glistening in the light.
'I'll tell the others to be ready first thing tomorrow,' Link said, following her gaze to the Zora's.