Zelink Week 2017 [Drabbles and Oneshots]

The Beat of Your Heart

Happy Zelink Week! This is my first submission of the week, and I'm soooo unprepared for the rest of them!!! :D XD I started trying to write this in October, but time totally got away with me so I finished today! XP I hope you all enjoy!!

I'm going to do my best to get each day out on time, but that might not be the case. X_X I have my fingers crossed anyways, though!!! :P

Dedicated to Zelinkie!!!! :D Thanks for being an awesome reader/voter and always commenting!!! I really appreciate it!!! ^w^

I'd totally appreciate it if you post the link to this on Tumblr and tag me!!! XD <3

~Elsie <3

~~~

Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, Zelda stands carefully without wrinkling her dress. Her heart is beating rapidly as she begins to pace the room, back and forth, back and forth. Her eyes are glazed, and she mutters to herself, trying to keep herself relatively calm, yet she finds that she can't.

"It's my fault," she says over and over again; her lip quivers, yet she doesn't cry. She folds her arms over her chest as she wills herself not to cry.

She's a wreck, she knows. The servants watch her out of the corners of their eyes, trying to be discreet. Finally, one of them speaks up, "Princess – I'm sure Master Link is fine."

That's when she breaks, "Please stop!" She drops to her knees, head in her hands, sobbing.

Slumped on the floor, she does her best to wipe her tears, to dash them away, but she can't. They're falling in torrents, and she can't stop them. It's a futile attempt, and she knows it; she can't help but dab her eyes with a handkerchief.

The servants scatter and leave the princess to drown in her thoughts and fears. As soon as she's alone, Zelda is forced to fight with her demons. Doubts fill her heart, and she's terrified of facing whatever it is she must face.

She forces herself to stand shakily before walking toward her window and gazing out at the horizon. The sky's a hazy gray, and it only fuels Zelda's longing for her love and hero. She raises a hand and presses it to the cold, unfeeling glass as a tear slips down her cheek.

"Link... Please be alive," she whispers to herself. "Please be alive. You can't leave me here. I know it's my fault, but please - be alive."

Her mind begins to fill with scary thoughts of what might have happened to Link, and her heart speeds up. If he's dead, she wouldn't know what to do with herself. She'd cry, most definitely, but what would happen when she ran out of tears? What would she do, trying to rule a kingdom all on her own?

She was worried, and she was scared. Her hands slides down, streaking the pristine glass, coming to rest at her side; curling up into a tiny ball, she begins sobbing once more. It didn't seem as though she would be running out of tears any time soon.

The sky seems to echo back her feelings, and she weeps from both the despair of knowing he's out there all alone or that he's dead. The latter is much worse, she knows, and the thought of him dead is enough alone to kill her, too.

Days pass, then weeks, and still she receives no word of either Link or the troops. She refuses to eat and begins dropping weight instantly. One of her only comforts is the cool slip of metal around her left ring finger, and she barely drags herself through her days.

Months have gone by, and it's been a year since she received word of Link and the troops. One by one, soldiers return, and they're battered and broken. Each soldier that returns home is in worse shape than the last, and she can only imagine how much pain Link must be in.

But nothing can prepare her for that fateful day.

"Princess Zelda!" one of her servants exclaim.

She's lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "Enter."

"I believe there's someone you must see waiting for you outside!" her servant announces without entering the Princess's chambers.

"Tell them to leave me be," Zelda responds, annoyed. "I don't want to see anyone right now, and I want to be alone."

The servant then throws the door open, her eyes immediately spotting the Princess. "We must get you ready, your Majesty."

"I don't want to get ready," Zelda snaps. "Leave me alone!"

The maiden serving the Princess smiles, "Princess - there is good news, but you must be ready to receive it. Please, your Majesty - you must get ready."

There's a joy in the voice of the servant that Zelda just can't decipher. She then decides that she'll get up and get ready - but she can't force a smile onto her face. Her servant helps her into a purple evening dress, and she slips on a pair of heels. A silver tiara is set on her head, and her servant heads out of her room.

Zelda then glances at the mirror for a few moments before the tears resurface in her eyes. She grits her teeth before exiting her chambers and heading outside. She sees a carriage in the distance so she squints her eyes in order to see.

That's when she disregards all the need for her to be ladylike and runs as the carriage door bursts open. She flings herself into the open arms of her beloved husband before sobbing into his chest. For a while, neither of them speaks. They're just alone in silence as the servants go about their business.

"Link?" she finally breathes, pressing her ear to his chest, "Is it really you?"

He cradles her in his arms, "It's really me, Zelda..."

"Are you certain?" she questions, screwing her eyes shut, scared to open them lest it's all just a dream, a fantasy conjured by her lonely heart.

He chuckles, his voice husky, "I am, Zelda. It's me - Link." He's dirty and tired and so different from how he used to look, but she presses herself to him all the closer. She knows that he's changed - war changes everyone, but she promises herself that they'll soldier on together, no matter how broken either of them may be. "I've missed you," he whispers.

"I've missed you too, Link!" she murmurs back. "So, so much..."

"I'm so glad to be home," he adds, stroking her hair gently.

Her sharp ears pick up the sound of his heart, thundering in his chest and showing no signs of slowing down, "I love the sound of your heart beating..." She knows he's happy because it's beating faster than normal.

That brings a smile to his face, and he pulls away so she can see it. "And I love the way you look when you smile."

They link hands before heading up the steps to their Castle on that dark, dreary day. And Zelda knows that the sky no longer echoes her feelings because she's feeling the happiest she's felt in a long time.  

~~~

Total Word Count {excluding Author's Notes}:

1081