Memories: A Zelink Fanfiction

TURNED

It was pouring rain as they raced along the dark forest path. Link's body ached as his tunic rubbed against fresh wounds, mixing in sweat, rain and mud, but he pushed the pain aside. He had to keep Zelda safe. That was most important. He held her hand tightly in one of his and the Master Sword in the other, ready to attack it another rogue Gaurdian were to cross their path.

Suddenly, Zelda's hand slipped from his and he spun to see her on her hands and knees in the mud. He hurried back and knelt in front of her. Lightning illuminated the dark path and a crack of thunder followed suit.

"How," Zelda said down to her hands. Her hands tensed and mud squelched between her fingers.

"Zelda, we have to keep going," Link told her, but he sheathed his sword.

"How did it come to this?" She asked, her voice soft and weak from exhaustion. "The Divine Beasts. The Guardians. They've all turned against us. It was Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us."

"There's nothing we could have done," he said softly.

"Everyone -Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk. They're all trapped inside those things." She raised her tear-filled eyes to Link's then threw her muddy hands over her face. "It's all my fault!"

"Zelda..." Link started, reaching for her hands. "You did the best you could. There was no way we could have known this would happen, no way to prevent it. It's not your fault."

"Yes it is! Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this cursed power! Everything -everything I've done up until now... It was all for nothing." She lowered her hands, tears spilling down her cheeks. "So I really am just a failure!"

He shook his head fiercely. "That's not true."

"All my friends, the entire kingdom, my father most of all. I tried and I failed them all. I left them... all to die."

He held her gaze for a moment, helplessly watching fresh tears pool and then fall before she threw herself into him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, never wanting to let go, and rested his cheek against the top of her head as she cried. He searched for the right words to say, but that had never been his forte. There were no words of comfort for this. This was so far beyond all of them. So he held her tightly as the rain soaked through their clothing and let her weep.