rosy cheeks

iii. nightfall

CHAPTER 3

she stayed by his bedside all night that night.

it was late; the cool moonlight illuminated the room and accented all the wooden features, paya's silky curtains blowing softly in the slight breeze. despite the peace and tranquility of the room, link's mind was restless. zelda had already fallen asleep, her body slumped in a chair by his bedside, her head fallen on her shoulder and her mouth slightly parted. he couldn't help but admire her as thoughts plagued his consciousness.

how was he supposed to tell her? there was no possible way that would make sense, let alone be appropriate. how was he supposed to tell her he'd been in love with her all this time? that she was the most amazing, strong, intelligent woman he'd ever met?

he wiggles and sits up a little straighter in the bed, only for zelda's eyes to flutter slowly open and lock onto him. she always was a light sleeper.

"link?" she whispers, her face wrought sleepiness as she struggles to come into clarity. her knuckles grip white onto the arms of the wooden chair as she straightens herself up, before brushing some hair out of her eyes. "what are you doing awake?"

"thinking," he bursts, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could process them. "about...things. the castle, the past. you. me."

a long sigh blows past her lips, and link immediately starts to wonder if he should've said anything at all. "you know it does you no good to think about the past, link. we've done all we can."

it's silent for a moment, and he watches her with a thoughtful expression as her eyes begin to focus in the darkness, suddenly able to see him with better clarity.

"but...i must ask. what do you mean?"

"what?"

"you and me," she says softly.

link's heart begins to pound and he swallows pat the lump in his throat. he can feel his palms already beginning to sweat; zelda's gaze on him feels like it's burning, and thoughts are swirling through his head so fast he can't decipher which ones to voice and which to muffle.

"I remember most things," he begins slowly, taking extreme caution in the way he words his thoughts. "but not everything. i remember...you never really liked me much."

she shifts in her chair. "it's not that i didn't like you, link. i was jealous of you. surely you must know that."

"i do now," he admits, turning his eyes to the window because the weight of looking at her is too much to bear. "but what changed? because something has. changed, i mean."

she's silent. for a moment he starts to wonder if he said the wrong thing, or maybe he should just roll over and pretend to go back to sleep. before he can act on his plans, her voice lights up the darkness.

"i don't know." she says truthfully, her voice hiding a sense of vulnerability and confusion. "but i feel it too. the day i...the day i almost lost you, for good..."

link turns his eyes back to her then, and she's still looking at him.

"that day, i don't think i'd ever felt such pain. it felt like my world had stopped turning."

link's taken aback by her statement and his stomach flips in his chest. goddess, he's in love with the princess of hyrule and if she doesn't love him back he think he might go mad.

"zelda..." he mumbles, and the princess straightens up a little at the use of her first name, as if it took her by surprise. "there's something i have to tell you."

her eyes widen, but before he can say a word, two sheikah soldiers burst into the room with an urgency that can only mean something horrible has happened.

"princess, sir link!" one exclaims, bowing for a brief second. "it's paya. she's been taken."

zelda shoots up straight from her chair, and as link hurries to free himself from his covers, zelda stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"no, link. you must rest. i'll handle it."

her eyes hold a sense of determination that link can only connect to the very beginning of when the calamity approached. with that fire in her eyes, his whole body freezes. he trusts her.

he nods, and she nods in return. there's only one thing left to do, he thinks as she leaves with the soldiers.

he has to sneak out.