Lost in Time- A Zelink Story

Chapter Thirteen

The next day, I wake to thunder outside the windows, rain hitting the glass in waves. The room is dim, and my neck hurts from sleeping on it wrong. I sit up slowly, the details of the day before coming back to me with the sight of the crimson stains on my white dress.

I clamber stiffly off the couch, and notice that Link is nowhere to be found, his bedroom door thrown wide open, stray clothes and random weapons littering the floor. On the wooden coffee table before me is a note, which reads in blocky, hurried handwriting, "Zelda, please, when you wake up, join us in the healing bay. We have important things to discuss. Sincerely, King Rauru."

I close my eyes for a second, wanting to forget what is waiting for me in the small, quiet infirmary. Eventually I stand, and I take a much needed shower before changing back into my comfortable riding clothes that Sonia gifted me. Even the sight of the soft, forest green cloth brings tears to my eyes.

I walk through the castle halls, filled with soldiers and generals and servants running in every direction, and descend the stairs to the underground healing bay. The air is cooler down here, and water trickles from small springs in the natural rock walls. Small plants grow from cracks in the stone, boasting tiny, bright flowers that would significantly lighten the mood in any other circumstance. I take a deep breath and walk in, expecting the worst. Only, what I see is something different entirely.

Queen Sonia is sitting up in bed, holding Soleil in her lap. The happy baby is cooing adorably, a big smile across her small face. The infirmary is mostly deserted aside from them; only the healer is tending to a few other patients in their beds.

She looks up when she sees me standing in the entrance, a strange reversal of our roles from only a week before.

"Zelda, I'm glad you came. The others left a few minutes ago for lunch. They should be back soon, though." Her voice is soft and frail sounding, and as I sit on a stool next to her bed, I immediately notice the signs of her weakness, even though she has improved somewhat from last night.

"How are you feeling, Queen Sonia?" I ask anyway.

"Oh," she says, sighing, "like I've been stabbed. I am appreciating life a little more, though, that's for sure. The healers told me that Link saved my life. Although it is terrible that you two are stuck here, I'm extremely glad you brought him along with you."

"I'm glad, too," I reply, smiling a bit.

A few moments pass, and we sit in silence, thinking casually about the fragility of life.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," I say finally, and she nods, "the man in the dungeons, who I met before coming here? I am sure now that it must be Ganondorf. The secret stone that I got from him, it belongs to you. He woke up, Sonia, in front of our eyes. Hundreds of years later, he awoke. We thought he was long dead when we fought him the first time. It- it means that we failed. We couldn't stop him in this time."

She stops for a moment, thinking. "Zelda, in your history books, did you ever read about Lord Ganondorf destroying Hyrule and taking it as his own?"

"No, I suppose I didn't."
"Then it must mean that even if he's still alive, we managed to hold him off," she says softly, "we saved thousands of lives. Maybe it was always meant to be that way, that you and Link were the ones to stop him in the end. You did manage to stop the reincarnation of his spirit, after all."

"But- but what if we messed things up, by coming here," I ask, "what if I changed history with my powers, just by coming here? What if I'm the reason he ends up prevailing?"

Sonia laughs kindly, taking my hand in hers. It seems smaller than usual, as does the rest of her.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Zelda," she says warmly, "the universe has a way of correcting itself, of working out the minor details in its timeline. It would be a feat to change history by that much, even for someone as powerful as you. Either way, though, I know that your arrival here happened for a reason, and I know that nothing bad will come out of it."