Playing With Knives- LoZ

scene 105- trust

"Trust me."

Those words rang in his ears.

"Trust me."

He hated it.

"Trust me."

It tore him apart.

"Trust me."

No.

"Trust me."

Don't.

"Trust me."

Please.

"Trust me."

Leave.

"Trust me."

Just go.

"Trust me."

He did it.

"Trust me."

He caused it.

"Trust me."

It gripped his heart.

"Trust me."

His throat.

"Trust me."

It restricted his breath.

"Trust me."

Put a bad taste on his tongue.

"Don't leave."

They died because of him.

"Don't leave."

It was his fault.

"Trust me."

They trusted him.

He killed them.

It was his fault.

●●●

She heard noises from across the river. He was crying.

She stood up and squinted.
Why was he so upset?

She heard a faint,
"It's my fault... I killed them..."

What? Who?
What was wrong? What was going on?
Was this because of her? Did she do this?

Great. First, she killed someone, then she failed at saving her sister, and now she made Link upset.
When would this day ever end?
No doubt she'd mess up more shit by then.

She sighed and looked down. Next thing she knew, Link had disappeared.
Then, he was next to her, putting a paraglider away.

"Hey... I'm sorry. That was stupid. I really mess a lot if things up."
He muttered something under his breath and rubbed his eyes.

Then, he fell to his knees and buried his face into her shoulder.
"I'm really sorry," he sobbed. "I didn't mean to upset you." He held her tight, digging his fingernails into her arm.
"I ruin so much... I don't deserve to be a hero... all I do is cause sadness..."

"What? What are you talking about?"
"I got them killed... I told them to stay in Castle Town..."
"Who?"
"My family... and they died... I wasn't there to protect them..."
He took a deep breath and wailed, "And I never even visited them! And I'll never be able to..."

He was holding her arm so tightly that  she could feel the fabric tearing.

"I'm f**king useless... "
"No, you aren't. You're the hero. You saved Hyrule. And the Princess."
"She did all the work. I just got upset about every little thing."

He was digging into her skin. She was bleeding now.

"That hurts."
"Everything I do hurts someone... "
"Link. Stop."
"I wish I could..."
She pushed him away.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and pay attention to me!"

He looked up, surprised by the yelling. He loosened his grip on her arm and looked at his hands. He choked back a sob when he saw a blood on his fingers.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
"I know. It's fine. And I forgive you. I really should have told you about the whole Yiga thing earlier. I just... didn't want you to hate me."
"I... I understand. I've done something similar. Y'know, lying about something important like that."

She nodded and hugged him.
He forgave her.
That was all she needed right now.

For him to care.

●●●

How could she do this to him?
Lying bitch.
Good riddance.
She never liked her much anyway.
Got in the way.
He obviously liked her.
Of course, she wanted him to be happy.
But she could do that herself.
He didn't need her.
She wasn't who he needed.
Or maybe she was.
Maybe she was who he didn't need.
Maybe she was who he needed.
Not her.
That would make sense.
It wasn't her who got in the way.
It was her.
Not her.
It didn't matter what she wanted.
Only what he wanted.
And he wanted her,
Not her.

●●●

They ended up just sitting together, using each other for warmth.
It was nice.
Sure, they were both upset, but it was comforting. They felt better about it.

Eventually, she spoke.
"I... tried to save my sister... from the Yiga... But it didn't work. I couldn't save her. I barely got out alive. And I can't save her if I'm dead." She paused. "So..." She looked down at him. "Could... well, would you mind helping me?"
He thought for a moment before nodding.
"I can help."

He sat up and hugged her.

"Whatever I can do to make it up to you."

●●●

"Do you think Wild's alright?"
"Yes. He's tough. He's been through much worse than a simple upset."
"Yeah, but... he just seemed... miserable. More than just sad. Hurt."
"Like I said, he's tough. He's got this."
"I just don't want him to regress. I want him to stay happy, and this isn't helping."

●●●

He had seemed more cheerful than usual when he invited her to meet his friends. She liked him like that. It was more like how he was when she first saw him.

There was a big difference. Not just in how he acted, but how he looked. He looked brighter, less droopy.
His eyes sparkled more, his hair seemed fluffier, his ears perked up more, his posture was straighter.

Still not quite how he was that first time, but closer.
His smile wasn't as big, his attitude was still negative- especially toward himself- and though he was brighter in several aspects, he still had a dark aura around him.

What happened between the time she first saw him and when they met while traveling? Who hurt him? Whoever- or whatever- it was, she hated it. He had been so happy, but now... now, he was so sad.
Everything he said was so negative. Especially when he was talking about himself.

And he felt as if he was responsible for every bad thing that happened, even though he was the hero.

He hadn't asked her how she knew that. Last time they talked, before he disappeared for a while, she didn't know.
The princess told her. The princess told her that he was busy because of it. He didn't seem that busy to her, though.
In fact, it seemed as if he didn't have much to do.

Was the princess trying to keep her away from him?
Did she know about the Yoga thing?
Did she hate her?

Honestly, she wouldn't blame her.
There were plenty of reasons for the princess to dislike her. Plenty of reasons to keep her away from him.

After all, she was an ex-Yiga.
The hero shouldn't be hanging out with one of those.